diff --git a/soc/software/gps_system/src/drivers/imu/tdk_icm42688.c b/soc/software/gps_system/src/drivers/imu/tdk_icm42688.c
index a4fc829..1012c2f 100644
--- a/soc/software/gps_system/src/drivers/imu/tdk_icm42688.c
+++ b/soc/software/gps_system/src/drivers/imu/tdk_icm42688.c
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 #define ICM42688_WHO_AM_I       0x47u
 #define ICM_PWR_LOW_NOISE       0x0fu
 #define ICM_INT1_LATCHED_HIGH_PUSH_PULL 0x07u
+/* DEVICE_CONFIG bit 0: self-clearing soft reset. */
+#define ICM_SOFT_RESET          0x01u
 #define ICM_UI_DRDY_INT1_EN     0x08u
 
 #define TDK_GRAVITY_MPS2 9.80665
@@ -224,6 +226,33 @@ bool tdk_icm42688_init(const tdk_icm42688_config_t* config)
 	bsp_pmod_spi_set_clock_mode(BSP_PMOD_SPI_CLOCK_MODE0);
 	bsp_pmod_spi_set_timing(10u, 10u, 10u, 10u);
 	delay_us(1000u);
+
+	/*
+	 * Recover a device left mid-transfer before probing it.
+	 *
+	 * Halting the core with a debugger, or resetting it while a transaction is
+	 * in flight, leaves the sensor's SPI shift register part-way through a
+	 * word.  Every later access is then misaligned, WHO_AM_I reads back 0x00,
+	 * and initialisation fails until the board is power cycled -- the
+	 * `sensor=none who=0x00` case seen in field logs.  Toggling chip select
+	 * around idle bytes returns the device to command state, after which a
+	 * soft reset restores the register file to defaults so this function
+	 * starts from the same place regardless of what ran before it.
+	 */
+	for(unsigned int attempt = 0u ; attempt < 4u ; attempt++)
+	{
+		bsp_pmod_spi_select();
+		(void)bsp_pmod_spi_xfer8(ICM_SPI_DUMMY);
+		bsp_pmod_spi_deselect();
+		delay_us(50u);
+	}
+	write_register(ICM_DEVICE_CONFIG, ICM_SOFT_RESET);
+	/* Datasheet requires 1 ms before any register access after a soft reset. */
+	delay_ms(2u);
+	/* The reset asserts RESET_DONE; clear it so it cannot be mistaken for a
+	 * data-ready later. */
+	(void)read_register(ICM_INT_STATUS);
+
 	diagnostics.who_am_i = read_register(ICM_WHO_AM_I);
 	if((diagnostics.who_am_i != ICM42688_WHO_AM_I) ||
 	   (read_register(ICM_DEVICE_CONFIG) != 0x00u))