diff --git a/display/firmware/main.c b/display/firmware/main.c
index d3e91c7..73c0924 100644
--- a/display/firmware/main.c
+++ b/display/firmware/main.c
@@ -178,15 +178,24 @@ static void write_dr(uint8_t data) {
 }
 
 
-static void wait_ready() {
-	while (read_ir() & _BV(7));
+static bool wait_ready() {
+	// if the busy flag never goes high, we'll run into a deadlock here.
+	// let's put a deadline on the wait loop.
+	for (uint8_t i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
+		// read_ir() takes about 500ns
+		if (read_ir() & _BV(7)) return true;
+		// wait 10us until the next status read
+		_delay_us(10 - 0.5);
+	}
+	return false;
 }
 
 static void write_display(uint8_t command, const uint8_t *data, uint8_t length) {
-	wait_ready();
-	write_ir(command);
-	for (uint8_t i = 0; i < length; i++) {
-		write_dr(data[i]);
+	if (wait_ready()) {
+		write_ir(command);
+		for (uint8_t i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+			write_dr(data[i]);
+		}
 	}
 }