diff --git a/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_serial.c b/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_serial.c
index 3047b1fb6ea..55ab9af370c 100644
--- a/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_serial.c
+++ b/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_serial.c
@@ -1252,22 +1252,6 @@ static int up_interrupts(int irq, void *context, FAR void *arg)
           uart_xmitchars(dev);
           handled = true;
         }
-
-#if defined(SERIAL_HAVE_DMA) && !defined(CONFIG_KINETIS_UARTFIFOS)
-      /* Check if the receiver has detected IDLE. If so
-       * then flush any partail data in the SW rx fifo.
-       */
-
-      if ((s1 & UART_S1_IDLE) != 0)
-        {
-          up_serialin(priv, KINETIS_UART_D_OFFSET);
-          up_dma_rxcallback(priv->rxdma, dev , false, 0);
-
-          /* Exit ASAP */
-
-          handled = false;
-        }
-#endif
     }
 
   return OK;
@@ -1689,9 +1673,6 @@ static void up_rxint(struct uart_dev_s *dev, bool enable)
 
 #ifndef CONFIG_SUPPRESS_SERIAL_INTS
       priv->ie |= UART_C2_RIE;
-#if defined(SERIAL_HAVE_DMA) && !defined(CONFIG_KINETIS_UARTFIFOS)
-      priv->ie |= UART_C2_RIE | UART_C2_ILIE;
-#endif
       up_setuartint(priv);
 #endif
     }
@@ -2087,6 +2068,70 @@ unsigned int kinetis_uart_serialinit(unsigned int first)
   return first;
 }
 
+/****************************************************************************
+ * Name: kinetis_serial_dma_poll
+ *
+ * Description:
+ *   Checks receive DMA buffers for received bytes that have not accumulated
+ *   to the point where the DMA half/full interrupt has triggered.
+ *
+ *   This function should be called from a timer or other periodic context.
+ *
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+#ifdef SERIAL_HAVE_DMA
+void kinetis_serial_dma_poll(void)
+{
+    irqstate_t flags;
+
+    flags = enter_critical_section();
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_KINETIS_UART0_RXDMA
+  if (g_uart0priv.rxdma != NULL)
+    {
+      up_dma_rxcallback(g_uart0priv.rxdma, (void *)&g_uart0port, false, 0);
+    }
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_KINETIS_UART1_RXDMA
+  if (g_uart1priv.rxdma != NULL)
+    {
+      up_dma_rxcallback(g_uart1priv.rxdma, (void *)&g_uart1port, false, 0);
+    }
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_KINETIS_UART2_RXDMA
+  if (g_uart2priv.rxdma != NULL)
+    {
+      up_dma_rxcallback(g_uart2priv.rxdma, (void *)&g_uart2port, false, 0);
+    }
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_KINETIS_UART3_RXDMA
+  if (g_uart3priv.rxdma != NULL)
+    {
+      up_dma_rxcallback(g_uart3priv.rxdma, (void *)&g_uart3port, false, 0);
+    }
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_KINETIS_UART4_RXDMA
+  if (g_uart4priv.rxdma != NULL)
+    {
+      up_dma_rxcallback(g_uart4priv.rxdma, (void *)&g_uart4port, false, 0);
+    }
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_KINETIS_UART5_RXDMA
+  if (g_uart5priv.rxdma != NULL)
+    {
+      up_dma_rxcallback(g_uart5priv.rxdma, (void *)&g_uart5port, false, 0);
+    }
+#endif
+
+  leave_critical_section(flags);
+}
+#endif
+
 /****************************************************************************
  * Name: up_putc
  *
diff --git a/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_uart.h b/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_uart.h
index 39b9aa9d7ec..f4d396b7001 100644
--- a/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_uart.h
+++ b/arch/arm/src/kinetis/kinetis_uart.h
@@ -52,5 +52,51 @@
 #  endif
 #endif
 
+/****************************************************************************
+ * Public Types
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+/****************************************************************************
+ * Public Data
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef __ASSEMBLY__
+
+#undef EXTERN
+#if defined(__cplusplus)
+#define EXTERN extern "C"
+extern "C"
+{
+#else
+#define EXTERN extern
+#endif
+
+/****************************************************************************
+ * Public Functions Prototypes
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+/****************************************************************************
+ * Name: kinetis_serial_dma_poll
+ *
+ * Description:
+ *   Must be called periodically if any Kinetis UART is configured for DMA.
+ *   The DMA callback is triggered for each fifo size/2 bytes, but this can
+ *   result in some bytes being transferred but not collected if the incoming
+ *   data is not a whole multiple of half the FIFO size.
+ *
+ *   May be safely called from either interrupt or thread context.
+ *
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+#ifdef SERIAL_HAVE_DMA
+void kinetis_serial_dma_poll(void);
+#endif
+
+#undef EXTERN
+#if defined(__cplusplus)
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* __ASSEMBLY__ */
 #endif /* HAVE_UART_DEVICE && USE_SERIALDRIVER) */
 #endif /* __ARCH_ARM_SRC_KINETIS_KINETIS_UART_H */