diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/ucc_geth.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/ucc_geth.c
index 357e8b576905a4a61c312e6c9736c087b706b69d..56b774d3a13d4c3856ad01fff0ebe67c128e4f65 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/ucc_geth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/ucc_geth.c
@@ -3893,6 +3893,9 @@ static int ucc_geth_probe(struct platform_device* ofdev)
 	ugeth->phy_interface = phy_interface;
 	ugeth->max_speed = max_speed;
 
+	/* Carrier starts down, phylib will bring it up */
+	netif_carrier_off(dev);
+
 	err = register_netdev(dev);
 	if (err) {
 		if (netif_msg_probe(ugeth))