A torque converter has a pump that is rotatably driven by an internal combustion engine and that is fluidly coupled to a turbine, and a lockup clutch connected between pump and the turbine. Controlling engagement of the lockup clutch may include controlling the lockup clutch to an initial lockup clutch activation value, determining rotational speed of the pump, determining rotational speed of the turbine, and if the rotational speed of the turbine is greater than the rotational speed of the pump, increasing rotational speed of the engine until the rotational speed of the pump is within a threshold value of the rotational speed of the turbine followed by controlling the lockup clutch to full engagement.