diff --git a/src/ec/roda/it8518/ec.c b/src/ec/roda/it8518/ec.c
index 707d9e9371..ad51945cef 100644
--- a/src/ec/roda/it8518/ec.c
+++ b/src/ec/roda/it8518/ec.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <pc80/keyboard.h>
 #include <ec/acpi/ec.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <delay.h>
 
 #include "chip.h"
 
@@ -29,11 +30,20 @@ static void it8518_init(struct device *dev)
 	if (!dev->enabled)
 		return;
 
-	if (conf && conf->cpuhot_limit)
-		ec_write(0xb2, conf->cpuhot_limit);
-
 	printk(BIOS_DEBUG, "Roda IT8518: Initializing keyboard.\n");
 	pc_keyboard_init(NO_AUX_DEVICE);
+
+	if (conf && conf->cpuhot_limit) {
+		/* The EC may take very long for the first command on a
+		   cold boot (~180ms witnessed). Since we need an incre-
+		   dibly long timeout, we do this EC RAM write manually. */
+		int timeout = 50000;	/* 50,000 * 10us = 500ms */
+		send_ec_command(0x81);
+		while (ec_status() & EC_IBF && --timeout)
+			udelay(10);
+		send_ec_data(0xb2);
+		send_ec_data(conf->cpuhot_limit);
+	}
 }
 
 static struct device_operations ops = {