diff --git a/platformio.ini b/platformio.ini
index 332734396..a4be92230 100644
--- a/platformio.ini
+++ b/platformio.ini
@@ -209,8 +209,8 @@ build_flags = ${arduino_base.build_flags}
   ; PendSV reaches this FreeRTOS function from assembly, outside the LTO graph.
   -Wl,--undefined=vTaskSwitchContext
   -D NRF52_PLATFORM
-  ; Keep SPIM3 EasyDMA TX correct when CPU/IRQs access the same RAM bank.
-  -D NRFX_SPIM3_NRF52840_ANOMALY_198_WORKAROUND_ENABLED=1
+  ; The nrfx SPIM3 anomaly-198 register workaround conflicts with SoftDevice.
+  ; Do not enable it here; radio DMA mitigation must remain BLE-compatible.
   -D ED25519_USE_CRYPTO_SHA512=1 ; share the SHA-512 used by signature verification
   -D LFS_NO_ASSERT=1
   -D EXTRAFS=1
diff --git a/test/test_rak3401_buffered_radio_hal.py b/test/test_rak3401_buffered_radio_hal.py
index d85b2a80d..a6944223a 100644
--- a/test/test_rak3401_buffered_radio_hal.py
+++ b/test/test_rak3401_buffered_radio_hal.py
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class Rak3401BufferedRadioHalTests(unittest.TestCase):
                         self.assertNotEqual(ran.returncode, 0,
                                             "per-byte negative control did not fail")
 
-    def test_clock_dial_requires_correct_controller_and_global_dma_workaround(self):
+    def test_clock_dial_rejects_unqualified_spim3_speeds_and_workaround(self):
         target = (ROOT / "variants/rak3401/target.cpp").read_text(encoding="ascii")
         policy = target[target.index("#ifndef MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ"):
                         target.index("\nnamespace {")]
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ class Rak3401BufferedRadioHalTests(unittest.TestCase):
                 ([f"MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ={clock}"], True)
                 for clock in (2000000, 4000000, 8000000)] + [
                 (["MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ=16000000", "SPI_32MHZ_INTERFACE=1",
-                  "NRFX_SPIM3_NRF52840_ANOMALY_198_WORKAROUND_ENABLED=1"], True),
+                  "NRFX_SPIM3_NRF52840_ANOMALY_198_WORKAROUND_ENABLED=1"], False),
                 (["MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ=16000000"], False),
                 (["MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ=16000000", "SPI_32MHZ_INTERFACE=1"], False),
                 (["MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ=16000000", "SPI_32MHZ_INTERFACE=0",
diff --git a/variants/rak3401/target.cpp b/variants/rak3401/target.cpp
index cb6fe5880..115110c8d 100644
--- a/variants/rak3401/target.cpp
+++ b/variants/rak3401/target.cpp
@@ -11,18 +11,11 @@
 #ifndef MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ
 #define MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ 8000000
 #endif
-#if MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ != 2000000 && MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ != 4000000 \
-    && MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ != 8000000 && MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ != 16000000
-#error "RAK3401 radio SPI clock must be 2, 4, 8 or 16 MHz"
-#endif
-#if MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ == 16000000
-#if !defined(SPI_32MHZ_INTERFACE) || SPI_32MHZ_INTERFACE != 1
-#error "RAK3401 16 MHz radio requires SPI1 on SPIM3 (SPI_32MHZ_INTERFACE=1)"
-#endif
-#if !defined(NRFX_SPIM3_NRF52840_ANOMALY_198_WORKAROUND_ENABLED) \
-    || NRFX_SPIM3_NRF52840_ANOMALY_198_WORKAROUND_ENABLED != 1
-#error "RAK3401 16 MHz radio requires the global nrfx SPIM3 anomaly 198 workaround"
-#endif
+#if MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ > 8000000
+#error "RAK3401 SPI above 8 MHz needs an unimplemented SoftDevice-compatible SPIM3 mitigation"
+#elif MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ != 2000000 && MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ != 4000000 \
+    && MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ != 8000000
+#error "RAK3401 radio SPI clock must be 2, 4 or 8 MHz"
 #endif
 
 namespace {
@@ -143,9 +136,9 @@ RAK3401Board board;
 // controller instance for startup and watchdog recovery; resetting the radio
 // must not replace or tear down the SPI object used by its Module.
 // Batch each RadioLib command into one SPIM transfer rather than starting a
-// transfer per byte. Keep 8 MHz by default. A 16 MHz HIL comparison must move
-// SPI1 to SPIM3 for the whole framework build and enable its DMA workaround;
-// changing the speed never replaces this bus or its recovery/handoff path.
+// transfer per byte. Keep 8 MHz by default on SPI1/SPIM2. Higher speeds need
+// a separate SPIM3/SoftDevice mitigation before they can be offered safely.
+// Changing the speed never replaces this bus or its recovery/handoff path.
 static Nrf52BufferedRadioHal radioHal(SPI1, MC_RAK3401_SPI_HZ);
 RADIO_CLASS radio = new Module(&radioHal, P_LORA_NSS, P_LORA_DIO_1, P_LORA_RESET, P_LORA_BUSY);