diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/smsc.c b/drivers/net/phy/smsc.c
index 1b8204be064c2..2306bfae057f0 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/smsc.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/smsc.c
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ static void smsc_get_strings(struct phy_device *phydev, u8 *data)
 	int i;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(smsc_hw_stats); i++) {
-		memcpy(data + i * ETH_GSTRING_LEN,
+		strncpy(data + i * ETH_GSTRING_LEN,
 		       smsc_hw_stats[i].string, ETH_GSTRING_LEN);
 	}
 }