diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
index 38633563dacdccc24e50a676cfbc79630fee6452..1ffe802d489f0d700b72bdf09cde577157c06893 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ enum i40e_state_t {
 	__I40E_VF_DISABLE,
 	__I40E_MACVLAN_SYNC_PENDING,
 	__I40E_UDP_FILTER_SYNC_PENDING,
+	__I40E_TEMP_LINK_POLLING,
 	/* This must be last as it determines the size of the BITMAP */
 	__I40E_STATE_SIZE__,
 };
@@ -534,7 +535,7 @@ struct i40e_pf {
 #define I40E_FLAG_VEB_STATS_ENABLED		BIT_ULL(17)
 #define I40E_FLAG_LINK_POLLING_ENABLED		BIT_ULL(18)
 #define I40E_FLAG_TRUE_PROMISC_SUPPORT		BIT_ULL(19)
-#define I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING		BIT_ULL(20)
+/* Gap for BIT_ULL(20) */
 #define I40E_FLAG_LEGACY_RX			BIT_ULL(21)
 #define I40E_FLAG_PTP				BIT_ULL(22)
 #define I40E_FLAG_IWARP_ENABLED			BIT_ULL(23)
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
index a478153818bcd64375feea74ff155bdcc0b84544..307f5bf657084a266eb2122bbba9773863754952 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
@@ -8432,13 +8432,12 @@ static void i40e_link_event(struct i40e_pf *pf)
 
 	/* On success, disable temp link polling */
 	if (status == I40E_SUCCESS) {
-		if (pf->flags & I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING)
-			pf->flags &= ~I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING;
+		clear_bit(__I40E_TEMP_LINK_POLLING, pf->state);
 	} else {
 		/* Enable link polling temporarily until i40e_get_link_status
 		 * returns I40E_SUCCESS
 		 */
-		pf->flags |= I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING;
+		set_bit(__I40E_TEMP_LINK_POLLING, pf->state);
 		dev_dbg(&pf->pdev->dev, "couldn't get link state, status: %d\n",
 			status);
 		return;
@@ -8490,7 +8489,7 @@ static void i40e_watchdog_subtask(struct i40e_pf *pf)
 	pf->service_timer_previous = jiffies;
 
 	if ((pf->flags & I40E_FLAG_LINK_POLLING_ENABLED) ||
-	    (pf->flags & I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING))
+	    test_bit(__I40E_TEMP_LINK_POLLING, pf->state))
 		i40e_link_event(pf);
 
 	/* Update the stats for active netdevs so the network stack