diff --git a/drivers/i2c/i2c-uclass-compat.c b/drivers/i2c/i2c-uclass-compat.c
index 5606d1f807..de78db6a88 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/i2c-uclass-compat.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/i2c-uclass-compat.c
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <i2c.h>
 
-static int cur_busnum;
+static int cur_busnum __attribute__((section(".data")));
 
 static int i2c_compat_get_device(uint chip_addr, int alen,
 				 struct udevice **devp)