diff --git a/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-encoder.c b/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-encoder.c
index 20b614436d2cffc16b239025ec79736dda9ddab1..205087a3e136fa226cc52495c5055b7121da5b10 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-encoder.c
+++ b/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-encoder.c
@@ -209,6 +209,11 @@ static int pvr2_encoder_cmd(void *ctxt,
 
 	LOCK_TAKE(hdw->ctl_lock); do {
 
+		if (!hdw->flag_encoder_ok) {
+			ret = -EIO;
+			break;
+		}
+
 		retry_flag = 0;
 		try_count++;
 		ret = 0;
@@ -273,6 +278,7 @@ static int pvr2_encoder_cmd(void *ctxt,
 			ret = -EBUSY;
 		}
 		if (ret) {
+			hdw->flag_encoder_ok = 0;
 			pvr2_trace(
 				PVR2_TRACE_ERROR_LEGS,
 				"Giving up on command."
diff --git a/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw-internal.h b/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw-internal.h
index 985d9ae7f5ee1c11486ba7ff6cfeb4303a920b95..f873994b088ce3287a7a5b1bfdb4763b0f818fb6 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw-internal.h
+++ b/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw-internal.h
@@ -225,11 +225,12 @@ struct pvr2_hdw {
 	unsigned int cmd_debug_write_len;  //
 	unsigned int cmd_debug_read_len;   //
 
-	int flag_ok;            // device in known good state
-	int flag_disconnected;  // flag_ok == 0 due to disconnect
-	int flag_init_ok;       // true if structure is fully initialized
-	int flag_streaming_enabled; // true if streaming should be on
-	int fw1_state;          // current situation with fw1
+	int flag_ok;            /* device in known good state */
+	int flag_disconnected;  /* flag_ok == 0 due to disconnect */
+	int flag_init_ok;       /* true if structure is fully initialized */
+	int flag_streaming_enabled; /* true if streaming should be on */
+	int fw1_state;          /* current situation with fw1 */
+	int flag_encoder_ok;    /* True if encoder is healthy */
 
 	int flag_decoder_is_tuned;
 
diff --git a/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw.c b/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw.c
index 27b12b4b5c883c449b3ce3bd267fdb338ba1e870..402c59488253768ce077708c8787711886988aa1 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw.c
+++ b/drivers/media/video/pvrusb2/pvrusb2-hdw.c
@@ -1248,6 +1248,8 @@ int pvr2_upload_firmware2(struct pvr2_hdw *hdw)
 	   time we configure the encoder, then we'll fully configure it. */
 	hdw->enc_cur_valid = 0;
 
+	hdw->flag_encoder_ok = 0;
+
 	/* First prepare firmware loading */
 	ret |= pvr2_write_register(hdw, 0x0048, 0xffffffff); /*interrupt mask*/
 	ret |= pvr2_hdw_gpio_chg_dir(hdw,0xffffffff,0x00000088); /*gpio dir*/
@@ -1346,6 +1348,7 @@ int pvr2_upload_firmware2(struct pvr2_hdw *hdw)
 		pvr2_trace(PVR2_TRACE_ERROR_LEGS,
 			   "firmware2 upload post-proc failure");
 	} else {
+		hdw->flag_encoder_ok = !0;
 		hdw->subsys_enabled_mask |= (1<<PVR2_SUBSYS_B_ENC_FIRMWARE);
 	}
 	return ret;