diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c
index 16ba457197a2b..871404f3b8d38 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c
@@ -208,7 +208,8 @@ int otx2_set_mac_address(struct net_device *netdev, void *p)
 	if (!otx2_hw_set_mac_addr(pfvf, addr->sa_data)) {
 		memcpy(netdev->dev_addr, addr->sa_data, netdev->addr_len);
 		/* update dmac field in vlan offload rule */
-		if (pfvf->flags & OTX2_FLAG_RX_VLAN_SUPPORT)
+		if (netif_running(netdev) &&
+		    pfvf->flags & OTX2_FLAG_RX_VLAN_SUPPORT)
 			otx2_install_rxvlan_offload_flow(pfvf);
 	} else {
 		return -EPERM;