diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/sun/sunvnet.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/sun/sunvnet.c
index 126269762ee71b915212477596f2706eec70599c..15396720f489a802338eda997b26dbff2de66103 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/sun/sunvnet.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/sun/sunvnet.c
@@ -1073,7 +1073,7 @@ static int vnet_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	if (pending)
 		(void)mod_timer(&port->clean_timer,
 				jiffies + VNET_CLEAN_TIMEOUT);
-	else
+	else if (port)
 		del_timer(&port->clean_timer);
 	dev->stats.tx_dropped++;
 	return NETDEV_TX_OK;