diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_main.c
index 54bae797b3381410d632d1168bc877b8dee961a3..491cff9cf368e75f6f9c5aae2b9ec6d665817e60 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_main.c
@@ -3144,11 +3144,21 @@ static int mlx5e_xdp_set(struct net_device *netdev, struct bpf_prog *prog)
 
 	if (was_opened && reset)
 		mlx5e_close_locked(netdev);
+	if (was_opened && !reset) {
+		/* num_channels is invariant here, so we can take the
+		 * batched reference right upfront.
+		 */
+		prog = bpf_prog_add(prog, priv->params.num_channels);
+		if (IS_ERR(prog)) {
+			err = PTR_ERR(prog);
+			goto unlock;
+		}
+	}
 
-	/* exchange programs */
+	/* exchange programs, extra prog reference we got from caller
+	 * as long as we don't fail from this point onwards.
+	 */
 	old_prog = xchg(&priv->xdp_prog, prog);
-	if (prog)
-		bpf_prog_add(prog, 1);
 	if (old_prog)
 		bpf_prog_put(old_prog);
 
@@ -3164,7 +3174,6 @@ static int mlx5e_xdp_set(struct net_device *netdev, struct bpf_prog *prog)
 	/* exchanging programs w/o reset, we update ref counts on behalf
 	 * of the channels RQs here.
 	 */
-	bpf_prog_add(prog, priv->params.num_channels);
 	for (i = 0; i < priv->params.num_channels; i++) {
 		struct mlx5e_channel *c = priv->channel[i];