diff --git a/drivers/net/ntb_netdev.c b/drivers/net/ntb_netdev.c
index dade51cf599c62bb130dfb80cf028207fdbe5eb8..554ec6e544403335bcafa3d6d65417cd7f0d1030 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ntb_netdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ntb_netdev.c
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ static void ntb_netdev_rx_handler(struct ntb_transport_qp *qp, void *qp_data,
 				  void *data, int len)
 {
 	struct net_device *ndev = qp_data;
-	struct sk_buff *skb;
+	struct sk_buff *skb, *new_skb;
 	int rc;
 
 	skb = data;
@@ -115,6 +115,12 @@ static void ntb_netdev_rx_handler(struct ntb_transport_qp *qp, void *qp_data,
 		goto enqueue_again;
 	}
 
+	new_skb = netdev_alloc_skb(ndev, ndev->mtu + ETH_HLEN);
+	if (!new_skb) {
+		ndev->stats.rx_dropped++;
+		goto enqueue_again;
+	}
+
 	skb_put(skb, len);
 	skb->protocol = eth_type_trans(skb, ndev);
 	skb->ip_summed = CHECKSUM_NONE;
@@ -127,12 +133,7 @@ static void ntb_netdev_rx_handler(struct ntb_transport_qp *qp, void *qp_data,
 		ndev->stats.rx_bytes += len;
 	}
 
-	skb = netdev_alloc_skb(ndev, ndev->mtu + ETH_HLEN);
-	if (!skb) {
-		ndev->stats.rx_errors++;
-		ndev->stats.rx_frame_errors++;
-		return;
-	}
+	skb = new_skb;
 
 enqueue_again:
 	rc = ntb_transport_rx_enqueue(qp, skb, skb->data, ndev->mtu + ETH_HLEN);