diff --git a/drivers/net/skge.c b/drivers/net/skge.c
index 42daf98ba73636fc9a2b39f7e51397ab519be5b6..35b28f42d208ec7a413f37ee00165af6dfb887a7 100644
--- a/drivers/net/skge.c
+++ b/drivers/net/skge.c
@@ -3856,9 +3856,6 @@ static struct net_device *skge_devinit(struct skge_hw *hw, int port,
 	memcpy_fromio(dev->dev_addr, hw->regs + B2_MAC_1 + port*8, ETH_ALEN);
 	memcpy(dev->perm_addr, dev->dev_addr, dev->addr_len);
 
-	/* device is off until link detection */
-	netif_carrier_off(dev);
-
 	return dev;
 }