diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi.c b/drivers/spi/spi.c
index 5bac215d7009..8a21fa5bd4b9 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi.c
@@ -1747,38 +1747,6 @@ static int __spi_pump_transfer_message(struct spi_controller *ctlr,
 
 	trace_spi_message_start(msg);
 
-	/*
-	 * If an SPI controller does not support toggling the CS line on each
-	 * transfer (indicated by the SPI_CS_WORD flag) or we are using a GPIO
-	 * for the CS line, we can emulate the CS-per-word hardware function by
-	 * splitting transfers into one-word transfers and ensuring that
-	 * cs_change is set for each transfer.
-	 */
-	if ((msg->spi->mode & SPI_CS_WORD) && (!(ctlr->mode_bits & SPI_CS_WORD) ||
-					       spi_is_csgpiod(msg->spi))) {
-		ret = spi_split_transfers_maxwords(ctlr, msg, 1);
-		if (ret) {
-			msg->status = ret;
-			spi_finalize_current_message(ctlr);
-			return ret;
-		}
-
-		list_for_each_entry(xfer, &msg->transfers, transfer_list) {
-			/* Don't change cs_change on the last entry in the list */
-			if (list_is_last(&xfer->transfer_list, &msg->transfers))
-				break;
-			xfer->cs_change = 1;
-		}
-	} else {
-		ret = spi_split_transfers_maxsize(ctlr, msg,
-						  spi_max_transfer_size(msg->spi));
-		if (ret) {
-			msg->status = ret;
-			spi_finalize_current_message(ctlr);
-			return ret;
-		}
-	}
-
 	if (ctlr->prepare_message) {
 		ret = ctlr->prepare_message(ctlr, msg);
 		if (ret) {
@@ -2124,6 +2092,8 @@ static void __spi_unoptimize_message(struct spi_message *msg)
 	if (ctlr->unoptimize_message)
 		ctlr->unoptimize_message(msg);
 
+	spi_res_release(ctlr, msg);
+
 	msg->optimized = false;
 	msg->opt_state = NULL;
 }
@@ -2169,15 +2139,6 @@ void spi_finalize_current_message(struct spi_controller *ctlr)
 
 	spi_unmap_msg(ctlr, mesg);
 
-	/*
-	 * In the prepare_messages callback the SPI bus has the opportunity
-	 * to split a transfer to smaller chunks.
-	 *
-	 * Release the split transfers here since spi_map_msg() is done on
-	 * the split transfers.
-	 */
-	spi_res_release(ctlr, mesg);
-
 	if (mesg->prepared && ctlr->unprepare_message) {
 		ret = ctlr->unprepare_message(ctlr, mesg);
 		if (ret) {
@@ -3819,6 +3780,10 @@ static int __spi_split_transfer_maxsize(struct spi_controller *ctlr,
  * @msg:   the @spi_message to transform
  * @maxsize:  the maximum when to apply this
  *
+ * This function allocates resources that are automatically freed during the
+ * spi message unoptimize phase so this function should only be called from
+ * optimize_message callbacks.
+ *
  * Return: status of transformation
  */
 int spi_split_transfers_maxsize(struct spi_controller *ctlr,
@@ -3857,6 +3822,10 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(spi_split_transfers_maxsize);
  * @msg:      the @spi_message to transform
  * @maxwords: the number of words to limit each transfer to
  *
+ * This function allocates resources that are automatically freed during the
+ * spi message unoptimize phase so this function should only be called from
+ * optimize_message callbacks.
+ *
  * Return: status of transformation
  */
 int spi_split_transfers_maxwords(struct spi_controller *ctlr,
@@ -4231,6 +4200,57 @@ static int __spi_validate(struct spi_device *spi, struct spi_message *message)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * spi_split_transfers - generic handling of transfer splitting
+ * @msg: the message to split
+ *
+ * Under certain conditions, a SPI controller may not support arbitrary
+ * transfer sizes or other features required by a peripheral. This function
+ * will split the transfers in the message into smaller transfers that are
+ * supported by the controller.
+ *
+ * Controllers with special requirements not covered here can also split
+ * transfers in the optimize_message() callback.
+ *
+ * Context: can sleep
+ * Return: zero on success, else a negative error code
+ */
+static int spi_split_transfers(struct spi_message *msg)
+{
+	struct spi_controller *ctlr = msg->spi->controller;
+	struct spi_transfer *xfer;
+	int ret;
+
+	/*
+	 * If an SPI controller does not support toggling the CS line on each
+	 * transfer (indicated by the SPI_CS_WORD flag) or we are using a GPIO
+	 * for the CS line, we can emulate the CS-per-word hardware function by
+	 * splitting transfers into one-word transfers and ensuring that
+	 * cs_change is set for each transfer.
+	 */
+	if ((msg->spi->mode & SPI_CS_WORD) && (!(ctlr->mode_bits & SPI_CS_WORD) ||
+					       spi_is_csgpiod(msg->spi))) {
+		ret = spi_split_transfers_maxwords(ctlr, msg, 1);
+		if (ret)
+			return ret;
+
+		list_for_each_entry(xfer, &msg->transfers, transfer_list) {
+			/* Don't change cs_change on the last entry in the list */
+			if (list_is_last(&xfer->transfer_list, &msg->transfers))
+				break;
+
+			xfer->cs_change = 1;
+		}
+	} else {
+		ret = spi_split_transfers_maxsize(ctlr, msg,
+						  spi_max_transfer_size(msg->spi));
+		if (ret)
+			return ret;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /**
  * __spi_optimize_message - shared implementation for spi_optimize_message()
  *                          and spi_maybe_optimize_message()
@@ -4256,10 +4276,16 @@ static int __spi_optimize_message(struct spi_device *spi,
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
+	ret = spi_split_transfers(msg);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
 	if (ctlr->optimize_message) {
 		ret = ctlr->optimize_message(msg);
-		if (ret)
+		if (ret) {
+			spi_res_release(ctlr, msg);
 			return ret;
+		}
 	}
 
 	msg->pre_optimized = pre_optimized;
