diff --git a/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c b/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c
index ada96d490847..901971e8bae6 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c
@@ -2247,12 +2247,29 @@ static int __maybe_unused atmel_xdmac_runtime_resume(struct device *dev)
 	return clk_enable(atxdmac->clk);
 }
 
+static inline int at_xdmac_get_channel_number(struct platform_device *pdev,
+					      u32 reg, u32 *pchannels)
+{
+	int	ret;
+
+	if (reg) {
+		*pchannels = AT_XDMAC_NB_CH(reg);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	ret = of_property_read_u32(pdev->dev.of_node, "dma-channels", pchannels);
+	if (ret)
+		dev_err(&pdev->dev, "can't get number of channels\n");
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static int at_xdmac_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 {
 	struct at_xdmac	*atxdmac;
-	int		irq, nr_channels, i, ret;
+	int		irq, ret;
 	void __iomem	*base;
-	u32		reg;
+	u32		nr_channels, i, reg;
 
 	irq = platform_get_irq(pdev, 0);
 	if (irq < 0)
@@ -2268,7 +2285,10 @@ static int at_xdmac_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	 * of channels to do the allocation.
 	 */
 	reg = readl_relaxed(base + AT_XDMAC_GTYPE);
-	nr_channels = AT_XDMAC_NB_CH(reg);
+	ret = at_xdmac_get_channel_number(pdev, reg, &nr_channels);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
 	if (nr_channels > AT_XDMAC_MAX_CHAN) {
 		dev_err(&pdev->dev, "invalid number of channels (%u)\n",
 			nr_channels);