diff --git a/drivers/net/smsc911x.c b/drivers/net/smsc911x.c
index ccdd196f5297952f993291819e1d65b5526402b0..f9cdcbcb77d4989efe930f1014a9c32128081216 100644
--- a/drivers/net/smsc911x.c
+++ b/drivers/net/smsc911x.c
@@ -986,7 +986,7 @@ static int smsc911x_poll(struct napi_struct *napi, int budget)
 	struct net_device *dev = pdata->dev;
 	int npackets = 0;
 
-	while (likely(netif_running(dev)) && (npackets < budget)) {
+	while (npackets < budget) {
 		unsigned int pktlength;
 		unsigned int pktwords;
 		struct sk_buff *skb;