diff --git a/platforms/pico/drivers/ws2812.c b/platforms/pico/drivers/ws2812.c
index 91eb8eadc5..d35107f9e3 100644
--- a/platforms/pico/drivers/ws2812.c
+++ b/platforms/pico/drivers/ws2812.c
@@ -11,11 +11,9 @@
 #include "boards/pico_boards.h"
 
 #include "pico/stdlib.h"
-#include "hardware/dma.h"
 
-static PIO pio    = pio0;
-static int sm     = 0;
-static int dma_ch = 1;
+static PIO pio = pio0;
+static int sm  = 0;
 
 static int ws2812_init(void) {
     sm = pio_manager_get_empty_sm(pio);
@@ -32,15 +30,6 @@ static int ws2812_init(void) {
 
     ws2812_program_init(pio, sm, offset, RGB_DI_PIN, 800000, false);
 
-    dma_channel_config conf = dma_channel_get_default_config(dma_ch);
-
-    channel_config_set_read_increment(&conf, true);
-    channel_config_set_write_increment(&conf, false);
-    channel_config_set_transfer_data_size(&conf, DMA_SIZE_32);
-    channel_config_set_dreq(&conf, pio_get_dreq(pio, sm, true));
-
-    dma_channel_set_config(dma_ch, &conf, false);
-    dma_channel_set_write_addr(dma_ch, &pio->txf[sm], false);
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -54,13 +43,14 @@ void ws2812_setleds(LED_TYPE *ledarray, uint16_t number_of_leds) {
         }
     }
 
-    uint32_t leddata[RGBLED_NUM];
+    __interrupt_disable__();
+
     for (int i = 0; i < number_of_leds; i++) {
-        leddata[i] = (((uint32_t)ledarray[i].g) << 24) |
-                     (((uint32_t)ledarray[i].r) << 16) |
-                     ((uint32_t)ledarray[i].b << 8);
+        pio_sm_put_blocking(pio, sm,
+                            (((uint32_t)ledarray[i].r) << 16) |
+                                (((uint32_t)ledarray[i].g) << 24) |
+                                ((uint32_t)ledarray[i].b << 8));
     }
 
-    dma_channel_transfer_from_buffer_now(dma_ch, leddata, number_of_leds);
-    dma_channel_wait_for_finish_blocking(dma_ch);
+    __interrupt_enable__(NULL);
 }