diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 5bbaf74bf4571..2bd9fb15b987e 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -1624,8 +1624,12 @@ static int do_setlink(const struct sk_buff *skb,
 		set_operstate(dev, nla_get_u8(tb[IFLA_OPERSTATE]));
 
 	if (tb[IFLA_LINKMODE]) {
+		unsigned char value = nla_get_u8(tb[IFLA_LINKMODE]);
+
 		write_lock_bh(&dev_base_lock);
-		dev->link_mode = nla_get_u8(tb[IFLA_LINKMODE]);
+		if (dev->link_mode ^ value)
+			modified = 1;
+		dev->link_mode = value;
 		write_unlock_bh(&dev_base_lock);
 	}