diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/cadence/macb.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/cadence/macb.c
index ac1f18142f7e603f761ec0bffa1482a5f6bd76d8..68d59b3900b1a2b5038332f828f69251990dd332 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/cadence/macb.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/cadence/macb.c
@@ -2161,9 +2161,13 @@ static void macb_probe_queues(void __iomem *mem,
 	*queue_mask = 0x1;
 	*num_queues = 1;
 
-	/* is it macb or gem ? */
+	/* is it macb or gem ?
+	 *
+	 * We need to read directly from the hardware here because
+	 * we are early in the probe process and don't have the
+	 * MACB_CAPS_MACB_IS_GEM flag positioned
+	 */
 	mid = readl_relaxed(mem + MACB_MID);
-
 	if (MACB_BFEXT(IDNUM, mid) < 0x2)
 		return;