diff --git a/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c b/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c
index a7590551e574..d5e40c3e4bc3 100644
--- a/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c
+++ b/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c
@@ -456,8 +456,11 @@ static void qeth_l3_set_ip_addr_list(struct qeth_card *card)
 	QETH_CARD_TEXT(card, 2, "sdiplist");
 	QETH_CARD_HEX(card, 2, &card, sizeof(void *));
 
-	if (card->options.sniffer)
+	if ((card->state != CARD_STATE_UP &&
+	     card->state != CARD_STATE_SOFTSETUP) || card->options.sniffer) {
 		return;
+	}
+
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&card->ip_lock, flags);
 	tbd_list = card->ip_tbd_list;
 	card->ip_tbd_list = kmalloc(sizeof(struct list_head), GFP_ATOMIC);