During the starting of an internal combustion engine with fuel injection, so-called preliminary injections (I) are dispensed according to a certain preliminary injection strategy in order to build up a wall film in the cylinders and simultaneously provide an ignitable mixture for the initial combustion. To avoid a situation where the preliminary charges during the starting phase are too rich or too lean, different quantities of fuel are chosen for the preliminary injections (I), depending on the charges to be expected in the relevant cylinders.