diff --git a/drivers/hwmon/lm73.c b/drivers/hwmon/lm73.c
index 29b9030d42c3..24be17608fbb 100644
--- a/drivers/hwmon/lm73.c
+++ b/drivers/hwmon/lm73.c
@@ -150,17 +150,31 @@ static int lm73_detect(struct i2c_client *new_client,
 			struct i2c_board_info *info)
 {
 	struct i2c_adapter *adapter = new_client->adapter;
-	u16 id;
-	u8 ctrl;
+	int id, ctrl, conf;
 
 	if (!i2c_check_functionality(adapter, I2C_FUNC_SMBUS_BYTE_DATA |
 					I2C_FUNC_SMBUS_WORD_DATA))
 		return -ENODEV;
 
+	/*
+	 * Do as much detection as possible with byte reads first, as word
+	 * reads can confuse other devices.
+	 */
+	ctrl = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_CTRL);
+	if (ctrl < 0 || (ctrl & 0x10))
+		return -ENODEV;
+
+	conf = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_CONF);
+	if (conf < 0 || (conf & 0x0c))
+		return -ENODEV;
+
+	id = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_ID);
+	if (id < 0 || id != (LM73_ID & 0xff))
+		return -ENODEV;
+
 	/* Check device ID */
 	id = i2c_smbus_read_word_data(new_client, LM73_REG_ID);
-	ctrl = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_CTRL);
-	if ((id != LM73_ID) || (ctrl & 0x10))
+	if (id < 0 || id != LM73_ID)
 		return -ENODEV;
 
 	strlcpy(info->type, "lm73", I2C_NAME_SIZE);