int ret;
 
        /* Check if we already have a channel */
-       if (plchan->phychan)
-               return 0;
+       if (plchan->phychan) {
+               ch = plchan->phychan;
+               goto got_channel;
+       }
 
        ch = pl08x_get_phy_channel(pl08x, plchan);
        if (!ch) {
                        return -EBUSY;
                }
                ch->signal = ret;
-
-               /* Assign the flow control signal to this channel */
-               if (txd->direction == DMA_MEM_TO_DEV)
-                       txd->ccfg |= ch->signal << PL080_CONFIG_DST_SEL_SHIFT;
-               else if (txd->direction == DMA_DEV_TO_MEM)
-                       txd->ccfg |= ch->signal << PL080_CONFIG_SRC_SEL_SHIFT;
        }
 
+       plchan->phychan = ch;
        dev_dbg(&pl08x->adev->dev, "allocated physical channel %d and signal %d for xfer on %s\n",
                 ch->id,
                 ch->signal,
                 plchan->name);
 
+got_channel:
+       /* Assign the flow control signal to this channel */
+       if (txd->direction == DMA_MEM_TO_DEV)
+               txd->ccfg |= ch->signal << PL080_CONFIG_DST_SEL_SHIFT;
+       else if (txd->direction == DMA_DEV_TO_MEM)
+               txd->ccfg |= ch->signal << PL080_CONFIG_SRC_SEL_SHIFT;
+
        plchan->phychan_hold++;
-       plchan->phychan = ch;
 
        return 0;
 }