diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c
index 39a5ea4d3b4e..a476f9da40c2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c
@@ -15108,6 +15108,9 @@ static int bnxt_queue_mem_alloc(struct net_device *dev, void *qmem, int idx)
 	struct bnxt_ring_struct *ring;
 	int rc;
 
+	if (!bp->rx_ring)
+		return -ENETDOWN;
+
 	rxr = &bp->rx_ring[idx];
 	clone = qmem;
 	memcpy(clone, rxr, sizeof(*rxr));