An apparatus and method for providing a back out routine for a failed programmable hardware update is provided. In one embodiment, the method includes: a) storing a new software image for the programmable device associated with the hardware update, b) storing a previous software image for the programmable device, c) programming the programmable device to operate according to the new software image, d) determining if there is a failure associated with the programming step, and e) if a failure is identified, programming the programmable device to operate according to the previous software image, otherwise the hardware update to the programmable device was successful. In one aspect, the back out routine is provided for a program load failure. In another aspect, the back out routine is provided for a programmable device failure.