diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c
index da4322e4daed5de4fb44f06d8cdb488bc41f6432..add124e0381d68272397901e4e1b020978acd2cc 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c
@@ -676,6 +676,9 @@ static int ixgbe_ipsec_add_sa(struct xfrm_state *xs)
 	} else {
 		struct tx_sa tsa;
 
+		if (adapter->num_vfs)
+			return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+
 		/* find the first unused index */
 		ret = ixgbe_ipsec_find_empty_idx(ipsec, false);
 		if (ret < 0) {