diff --git a/boards/arm/sam_e70_xplained/Kconfig.defconfig b/boards/arm/sam_e70_xplained/Kconfig.defconfig
index 79322bf57e3b4..cca4e04776255 100644
--- a/boards/arm/sam_e70_xplained/Kconfig.defconfig
+++ b/boards/arm/sam_e70_xplained/Kconfig.defconfig
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ config ETH_SAM_GMAC_MAC_I2C_DEV_NAME
 	default "I2C_0"
 
 config ETH_SAM_GMAC_MAC_I2C_EEPROM
+	default y
 	select I2C
 
 endif # ETH_SAM_GMAC