diff --git a/drivers/net/can/spi/mcp251x.c b/drivers/net/can/spi/mcp251x.c
index e750d13c88417..c320de474f406 100644
--- a/drivers/net/can/spi/mcp251x.c
+++ b/drivers/net/can/spi/mcp251x.c
@@ -1070,9 +1070,6 @@ static irqreturn_t mcp251x_can_ist(int irq, void *dev_id)
 
 		mcp251x_read_2regs(spi, CANINTF, &intf, &eflag);
 
-		/* mask out flags we don't care about */
-		intf &= CANINTF_RX | CANINTF_TX | CANINTF_ERR;
-
 		/* receive buffer 0 */
 		if (intf & CANINTF_RX0IF) {
 			mcp251x_hw_rx(spi, 0);
@@ -1082,6 +1079,18 @@ static irqreturn_t mcp251x_can_ist(int irq, void *dev_id)
 			if (mcp251x_is_2510(spi))
 				mcp251x_write_bits(spi, CANINTF,
 						   CANINTF_RX0IF, 0x00);
+
+			/* check if buffer 1 is already known to be full, no need to re-read */
+			if (!(intf & CANINTF_RX1IF)) {
+				u8 intf1, eflag1;
+
+				/* intf needs to be read again to avoid a race condition */
+				mcp251x_read_2regs(spi, CANINTF, &intf1, &eflag1);
+
+				/* combine flags from both operations for error handling */
+				intf |= intf1;
+				eflag |= eflag1;
+			}
 		}
 
 		/* receive buffer 1 */
@@ -1092,6 +1101,9 @@ static irqreturn_t mcp251x_can_ist(int irq, void *dev_id)
 				clear_intf |= CANINTF_RX1IF;
 		}
 
+		/* mask out flags we don't care about */
+		intf &= CANINTF_RX | CANINTF_TX | CANINTF_ERR;
+
 		/* any error or tx interrupt we need to clear? */
 		if (intf & (CANINTF_ERR | CANINTF_TX))
 			clear_intf |= intf & (CANINTF_ERR | CANINTF_TX);