diff --git a/board/hx20/lfw/gpio.inc b/board/hx20/lfw/gpio.inc
index cabf346f97..a62b0c685c 100644
--- a/board/hx20/lfw/gpio.inc
+++ b/board/hx20/lfw/gpio.inc
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
  */
 GPIO(QMSPI_CS0,	PIN(055),  GPIO_ODR_HIGH)
 
+/* We need to take control of this away from VCI */
+GPIO(EC_ON, PIN(0250), GPIO_OUT_HIGH) /* keep +3VL_EC to power on */
 
 /* Alternate functions GPIO definition */
 
diff --git a/board/hx30/lfw/gpio.inc b/board/hx30/lfw/gpio.inc
index f4142d3c29..fc7440cb23 100644
--- a/board/hx30/lfw/gpio.inc
+++ b/board/hx30/lfw/gpio.inc
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
  */
 GPIO(QMSPI_CS0,	PIN(055),  GPIO_ODR_HIGH)
 
+/* We need to take control of this away from VCI */
+GPIO(EC_ON, PIN(0250), GPIO_OUT_HIGH) /* keep +3VL_EC to power on */
 
 /* Alternate functions GPIO definition */
 
diff --git a/chip/mchp/lfw/ec_lfw.c b/chip/mchp/lfw/ec_lfw.c
index 8b2e429fb3..334338daa3 100644
--- a/chip/mchp/lfw/ec_lfw.c
+++ b/chip/mchp/lfw/ec_lfw.c
@@ -422,6 +422,16 @@ void lfw_main(void)
 	uart_init();
 	system_init();
 
+	/*
+	 * We need to switch control of VCI_OUT (aliased as EC_ON) away from
+	 * VCI_INx to keep the machine powered even after the user releases the
+	 * power button. This ensures that we can stay on long enough to read
+	 * from SPI flash.
+	 */
+	gpio_reset(GPIO_EC_ON);
+	MCHP_VCI_REGISTER |= MCHP_VCI_REGISTER_FW_CNTRL;
+	MCHP_VCI_REGISTER |= MCHP_VCI_REGISTER_FW_EXT;
+
 	spi_enable(CONFIG_SPI_FLASH_PORT, 1);
 
 	uart_puts("littlefw ");