diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_cmd.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_cmd.c
index 16d65fe4f654ac7bb035b3afc8ce0fc736470261..b4739eafc180f9aa9921c86d13bcd52b2cb75c0a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_cmd.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_cmd.c
@@ -271,6 +271,13 @@ int mlx5dr_cmd_sync_steering(struct mlx5_core_dev *mdev)
 {
 	u32 in[MLX5_ST_SZ_DW(sync_steering_in)] = {};
 
+	/* Skip SYNC in case the device is internal error state.
+	 * Besides a device error, this also happens when we're
+	 * in fast teardown
+	 */
+	if (mdev->state == MLX5_DEVICE_STATE_INTERNAL_ERROR)
+		return 0;
+
 	MLX5_SET(sync_steering_in, in, opcode, MLX5_CMD_OP_SYNC_STEERING);
 
 	return mlx5_cmd_exec_in(mdev, sync_steering, in);