diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c
index c33b4e83751593086cb04c99ed5c20f523dfb2d3..e2b290135fd97f1c8d3db60b3cef58b911263829 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c
@@ -555,9 +555,7 @@ static inline bool nicvf_xdp_rx(struct nicvf *nic, struct bpf_prog *prog,
 	xdp_prepare_buff(&xdp, hard_start, data - hard_start, len, false);
 	orig_data = xdp.data;
 
-	rcu_read_lock();
 	action = bpf_prog_run_xdp(prog, &xdp);
-	rcu_read_unlock();
 
 	len = xdp.data_end - xdp.data;
 	/* Check if XDP program has changed headers */