diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_controlq.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_controlq.c
index 6cd86cff6a23858d87711124c80dd6f7ade95928..b25ce4f587f5e7f4de00ed4815ab6f4425a376bb 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_controlq.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_controlq.c
@@ -518,22 +518,31 @@ ice_shutdown_sq(struct ice_hw *hw, struct ice_ctl_q_info *cq)
 
 /**
  * ice_aq_ver_check - Check the reported AQ API version.
- * @fw_branch: The "branch" of FW, typically describes the device type
- * @fw_major: The major version of the FW API
- * @fw_minor: The minor version increment of the FW API
+ * @hw: pointer to the hardware structure
  *
  * Checks if the driver should load on a given AQ API version.
  *
  * Return: 'true' iff the driver should attempt to load. 'false' otherwise.
  */
-static bool ice_aq_ver_check(u8 fw_branch, u8 fw_major, u8 fw_minor)
+static bool ice_aq_ver_check(struct ice_hw *hw)
 {
-	if (fw_branch != EXP_FW_API_VER_BRANCH)
-		return false;
-	if (fw_major != EXP_FW_API_VER_MAJOR)
-		return false;
-	if (fw_minor != EXP_FW_API_VER_MINOR)
+	if (hw->api_maj_ver > EXP_FW_API_VER_MAJOR) {
+		/* Major API version is newer than expected, don't load */
+		dev_warn(ice_hw_to_dev(hw),
+			 "The driver for the device stopped because the NVM image is newer than expected. You must install the most recent version of the network driver.\n");
 		return false;
+	} else if (hw->api_maj_ver == EXP_FW_API_VER_MAJOR) {
+		if (hw->api_min_ver > (EXP_FW_API_VER_MINOR + 2))
+			dev_info(ice_hw_to_dev(hw),
+				 "The driver for the device detected a newer version of the NVM image than expected. Please install the most recent version of the network driver.\n");
+		else if ((hw->api_min_ver + 2) < EXP_FW_API_VER_MINOR)
+			dev_info(ice_hw_to_dev(hw),
+				 "The driver for the device detected an older version of the NVM image than expected. Please update the NVM image.\n");
+	} else {
+		/* Major API version is older than expected, log a warning */
+		dev_info(ice_hw_to_dev(hw),
+			 "The driver for the device detected an older version of the NVM image than expected. Please update the NVM image.\n");
+	}
 	return true;
 }
 
@@ -588,8 +597,7 @@ static enum ice_status ice_init_check_adminq(struct ice_hw *hw)
 	if (status)
 		goto init_ctrlq_free_rq;
 
-	if (!ice_aq_ver_check(hw->api_branch, hw->api_maj_ver,
-			      hw->api_min_ver)) {
+	if (!ice_aq_ver_check(hw)) {
 		status = ICE_ERR_FW_API_VER;
 		goto init_ctrlq_free_rq;
 	}