diff --git a/src/avr.c b/src/avr.c
index 553e3ec4..5c97cbe7 100644
--- a/src/avr.c
+++ b/src/avr.c
@@ -377,8 +377,9 @@ int avr_read_mem(const PROGRAMMER *pgm, const AVRPART *p, const AVRMEM *mem, con
     return avr_mem_hiaddr(mem);
   }
 
-  if (pgm->paged_load != NULL && mem->page_size > 1 &&
-      mem->size % mem->page_size == 0) {
+  // HW programmers need a page size > 1, bootloader typ only offer paged r/w
+  if ((pgm->paged_load && mem->page_size > 1 && mem->size % mem->page_size == 0) ||
+     ((pgm->prog_modes & PM_SPM) && avr_has_paged_access(pgm, mem))) {
     /*
      * the programmer supports a paged mode read
      */
@@ -894,7 +895,9 @@ int avr_write_mem(const PROGRAMMER *pgm, const AVRPART *p, const AVRMEM *m, int
     return i;
   }
 
-  if (pgm->paged_write != NULL && m->page_size > 1) {
+  // HW programmers need a page size > 1, bootloader typ only offer paged r/w
+  if ((pgm->paged_load && m->page_size > 1 && m->size % m->page_size == 0) ||
+     ((pgm->prog_modes & PM_SPM) && avr_has_paged_access(pgm, m))) {
     /*
      * the programmer supports a paged mode write
      */