diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_txrx.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_txrx.c
index 06d18797d25a2..4c3f3f4191108 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_txrx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_txrx.c
@@ -114,8 +114,11 @@ u32 iavf_get_tx_pending(struct iavf_ring *ring, bool in_sw)
 {
 	u32 head, tail;
 
+	/* underlying hardware might not allow access and/or always return
+	 * 0 for the head/tail registers so just use the cached values
+	 */
 	head = ring->next_to_clean;
-	tail = readl(ring->tail);
+	tail = ring->next_to_use;
 
 	if (head != tail)
 		return (head < tail) ?