diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/if_ether.h b/include/uapi/linux/if_ether.h
index efeb1190c2ca8743c2a84aeb3fa140d0f788f802..f68f6bf4a253a012d1977dd159915cd709381157 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/if_ether.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/if_ether.h
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@
 #define ETH_P_QINQ2	0x9200		/* deprecated QinQ VLAN [ NOT AN OFFICIALLY REGISTERED ID ] */
 #define ETH_P_QINQ3	0x9300		/* deprecated QinQ VLAN [ NOT AN OFFICIALLY REGISTERED ID ] */
 #define ETH_P_EDSA	0xDADA		/* Ethertype DSA [ NOT AN OFFICIALLY REGISTERED ID ] */
+#define ETH_P_IFE	0xED3E		/* ForCES inter-FE LFB type */
 #define ETH_P_AF_IUCV   0xFBFB		/* IBM af_iucv [ NOT AN OFFICIALLY REGISTERED ID ] */
 
 #define ETH_P_802_3_MIN	0x0600		/* If the value in the ethernet type is less than this value
diff --git a/net/sched/act_ife.c b/net/sched/act_ife.c
index c5dec308b8b1eb29505fed1b9a71b3ef70f5e91a..7ed1be80ee86826bb16286ec8eb11db9b1362960 100644
--- a/net/sched/act_ife.c
+++ b/net/sched/act_ife.c
@@ -435,8 +435,8 @@ static int tcf_ife_init(struct net *net, struct nlattr *nla,
 	struct nlattr *tb[TCA_IFE_MAX + 1];
 	struct nlattr *tb2[IFE_META_MAX + 1];
 	struct tcf_ife_info *ife;
+	u16 ife_type = ETH_P_IFE;
 	struct tc_ife *parm;
-	u16 ife_type = 0;
 	u8 *daddr = NULL;
 	u8 *saddr = NULL;
 	bool exists = false;
@@ -456,18 +456,6 @@ static int tcf_ife_init(struct net *net, struct nlattr *nla,
 	if (exists && bind)
 		return 0;
 
-	if (parm->flags & IFE_ENCODE) {
-		/* Until we get issued the ethertype, we cant have
-		 * a default..
-		**/
-		if (!tb[TCA_IFE_TYPE]) {
-			if (exists)
-				tcf_hash_release(*a, bind);
-			pr_info("You MUST pass etherype for encoding\n");
-			return -EINVAL;
-		}
-	}
-
 	if (!exists) {
 		ret = tcf_hash_create(tn, parm->index, est, a, &act_ife_ops,
 				      bind, false);
@@ -484,7 +472,8 @@ static int tcf_ife_init(struct net *net, struct nlattr *nla,
 	ife->flags = parm->flags;
 
 	if (parm->flags & IFE_ENCODE) {
-		ife_type = nla_get_u16(tb[TCA_IFE_TYPE]);
+		if (tb[TCA_IFE_TYPE])
+			ife_type = nla_get_u16(tb[TCA_IFE_TYPE]);
 		if (tb[TCA_IFE_DMAC])
 			daddr = nla_data(tb[TCA_IFE_DMAC]);
 		if (tb[TCA_IFE_SMAC])
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/tc-testing/tc-tests/actions/tests.json b/tools/testing/selftests/tc-testing/tc-tests/actions/tests.json
index af519bc97a8e708ee28b06978ebee0ecfb2a6033..6973bdc5b5bf09098174daa5bf3c63323ac16b02 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/tc-testing/tc-tests/actions/tests.json
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/tc-testing/tc-tests/actions/tests.json
@@ -1111,5 +1111,55 @@
         "teardown": [
             "$TC actions flush action gact"
         ]
+    },
+    {
+        "id": "a568",
+        "name": "Add action with ife type",
+        "category": [
+            "actions",
+            "ife"
+        ],
+        "setup": [
+            [
+                "$TC actions flush action ife",
+                0,
+                1,
+                255
+            ],
+            "$TC actions add action ife encode type 0xDEAD index 1"
+        ],
+        "cmdUnderTest": "$TC actions get action ife index 1",
+        "expExitCode": "0",
+        "verifyCmd": "$TC actions get action ife index 1",
+        "matchPattern": "type 0xDEAD",
+        "matchCount": "1",
+        "teardown": [
+            "$TC actions flush action ife"
+        ]
+    },
+    {
+        "id": "b983",
+        "name": "Add action without ife type",
+        "category": [
+            "actions",
+            "ife"
+        ],
+        "setup": [
+            [
+                "$TC actions flush action ife",
+                0,
+                1,
+                255
+            ],
+            "$TC actions add action ife encode index 1"
+        ],
+        "cmdUnderTest": "$TC actions get action ife index 1",
+        "expExitCode": "0",
+        "verifyCmd": "$TC actions get action ife index 1",
+        "matchPattern": "type 0xED3E",
+        "matchCount": "1",
+        "teardown": [
+            "$TC actions flush action ife"
+        ]
     }
 ]
\ No newline at end of file