diff --git a/hw/e1000.c b/hw/e1000.c
index 8fd165456ada263c60fb1aa5a67c58746cf296c6..0f177ff8449269e9de39177a7495e142b4be784d 100644
--- a/hw/e1000.c
+++ b/hw/e1000.c
@@ -166,6 +166,11 @@ static void
 set_phy_ctrl(E1000State *s, int index, uint16_t val)
 {
     if ((val & MII_CR_AUTO_NEG_EN) && (val & MII_CR_RESTART_AUTO_NEG)) {
+        /* no need auto-negotiation if link was down */
+        if (s->nic->nc.link_down) {
+            s->phy_reg[PHY_STATUS] |= MII_SR_AUTONEG_COMPLETE;
+            return;
+        }
         s->nic->nc.link_down = true;
         e1000_link_down(s);
         s->phy_reg[PHY_STATUS] &= ~MII_SR_AUTONEG_COMPLETE;