A method for avoiding an injector orifice internal coking of the spray orifices of a multi-orifice fuel injector of a direct injection internal combustion engine, e.g., of a motor vehicle, is provided. Fuel is injected into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine by multiple injections. The fuel is injected by a first main injection during the intake stroke and by a subsequent postinjection during the compression stroke before the ignition time. Thereby, during a long operation of the internal combustion engine, especially in a homogeneous operation, the injection time does not have to be continually increased in order to compensate for the increasingly shrinking cross section of the spray orifices.