diff --git a/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.cpp b/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.cpp
index 09b7fb485e..955f6c2858 100644
--- a/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.cpp
+++ b/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.cpp
@@ -311,6 +311,8 @@ AK09916::init()
 		return ret;
 	}
 
+	reset();
+
 	_mag_reports = new ringbuffer::RingBuffer(2, sizeof(mag_report));
 
 	if (_mag_reports == nullptr) {
@@ -319,8 +321,6 @@ AK09916::init()
 
 	_mag_class_instance = register_class_devname(MAG_BASE_DEVICE_PATH);
 
-	reset();
-
 	/* advertise sensor topic, measure manually to initialize valid report */
 	struct mag_report mrp;
 	_mag_reports->get(&mrp);
@@ -583,8 +583,7 @@ AK09916::write_reg(uint8_t reg, uint8_t value)
 int
 AK09916::reset(void)
 {
-	// First initialize it to use the bus
-	int rv = setup();
+	int rv = probe();
 
 	if (rv == OK) {
 		// Now reset the mag
@@ -598,7 +597,7 @@ AK09916::reset(void)
 }
 
 int
-AK09916::setup(void)
+AK09916::probe(void)
 {
 	int retries = 10;
 
@@ -608,12 +607,18 @@ AK09916::setup(void)
 		uint8_t id = 0;
 
 		if (check_id(id)) {
-			break;
+			return OK;
 		}
 
 		retries--;
 	} while (retries > 0);
 
+	return PX4_ERROR;
+}
+
+int
+AK09916::setup(void)
+{
 	write_reg(AK09916REG_CNTL2, AK09916_CNTL2_CONTINOUS_MODE_100HZ);
 
 	return OK;
@@ -732,4 +737,4 @@ ak09916_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	ak09916::usage();
 	return -1;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.hpp b/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.hpp
index de15aac728..c02b59f4a5 100644
--- a/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.hpp
+++ b/src/drivers/magnetometer/ak09916/ak09916.hpp
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ public:
 	void read_block(uint8_t reg, uint8_t *val, uint8_t count);
 
 	int reset(void);
+	int probe(void);
 	int setup(void);
 	void print_info(void);
 	int setup_master_i2c(void);