diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/cxgb3/cxgb3_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/cxgb3/cxgb3_main.c
index 71497e835f4258bedc82896e12ead2a71778902d..b650951791dd46e81c35e972354ba133d48ee865 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/cxgb3/cxgb3_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/cxgb3/cxgb3_main.c
@@ -3037,7 +3037,9 @@ static void t3_io_resume(struct pci_dev *pdev)
 	CH_ALERT(adapter, "adapter recovering, PEX ERR 0x%x\n",
 		 t3_read_reg(adapter, A_PCIE_PEX_ERR));
 
+	rtnl_lock();
 	t3_resume_ports(adapter);
+	rtnl_unlock();
 }
 
 static const struct pci_error_handlers t3_err_handler = {