diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c
index 6b5fe4ee7a99..acb9500ef930 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c
@@ -15447,6 +15447,9 @@ 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));