diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
index 17c041323..1602c63da 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
@@ -1432,12 +1432,6 @@ int spa_alsa_start(struct state *state)
 	if (SPA_UNLIKELY(spa_log_level_enabled(state->log, SPA_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG)))
 		snd_pcm_dump(state->hndl, state->output);
 
-	if ((err = snd_pcm_prepare(state->hndl)) < 0) {
-		spa_log_error(state->log, NAME" %p: snd_pcm_prepare error: %s", state,
-				snd_strerror(err));
-		return err;
-	}
-
 	state->source.func = alsa_on_timeout_event;
 	state->source.data = state;
 	state->source.fd = state->timerfd;