diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
index 792bb8bc0cd34bda53ab35bdcfd4acd8391a2a18..2b9350f4c7522bd455dfe91ee4771e9ca6f0e4d9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
@@ -1083,6 +1083,9 @@ static int mlx5e_set_pauseparam(struct net_device *netdev,
 	struct mlx5_core_dev *mdev = priv->mdev;
 	int err;
 
+	if (!MLX5_CAP_GEN(mdev, vport_group_manager))
+		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+
 	if (pauseparam->autoneg)
 		return -EINVAL;