diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
index f4c4ee3edde1623f83955281048397fcd9fd0aeb..82d8040fa418a3cf905d3f27335d1ec177f00b99 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
@@ -349,6 +349,7 @@ struct i40e_pf {
 #define I40E_FLAG_HAVE_CRT_RETIMER		BIT_ULL(52)
 #define I40E_FLAG_PTP_L4_CAPABLE		BIT_ULL(53)
 #define I40E_FLAG_WOL_MC_MAGIC_PKT_WAKE		BIT_ULL(54)
+#define I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING		BIT_ULL(55)
 
 	/* tracks features that get auto disabled by errors */
 	u64 auto_disable_flags;
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
index df78271bdce5acada6385eb55d996b087e9a47ef..199ef34e00f806a3399b7519dc5722bd77bc9277 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
@@ -6353,7 +6353,16 @@ static void i40e_link_event(struct i40e_pf *pf)
 	old_link = (pf->hw.phy.link_info_old.link_info & I40E_AQ_LINK_UP);
 
 	status = i40e_get_link_status(&pf->hw, &new_link);
-	if (status) {
+
+	/* 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;
+	} else {
+		/* Enable link polling temporarily until i40e_get_link_status
+		 * returns I40E_SUCCESS
+		 */
+		pf->flags |= I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING;
 		dev_dbg(&pf->pdev->dev, "couldn't get link state, status: %d\n",
 			status);
 		return;
@@ -6405,7 +6414,8 @@ static void i40e_watchdog_subtask(struct i40e_pf *pf)
 		return;
 	pf->service_timer_previous = jiffies;
 
-	if (pf->flags & I40E_FLAG_LINK_POLLING_ENABLED)
+	if ((pf->flags & I40E_FLAG_LINK_POLLING_ENABLED) ||
+	    (pf->flags & I40E_FLAG_TEMP_LINK_POLLING))
 		i40e_link_event(pf);
 
 	/* Update the stats for active netdevs so the network stack