diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmvnic.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmvnic.c
index ecfe588f330ef..cfe7229593ead 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmvnic.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmvnic.c
@@ -4277,6 +4277,14 @@ static int handle_login_rsp(union ibmvnic_crq *login_rsp_crq,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (adapter->failover_pending) {
+		adapter->init_done_rc = -EAGAIN;
+		netdev_dbg(netdev, "Failover pending, ignoring login response\n");
+		complete(&adapter->init_done);
+		/* login response buffer will be released on reset */
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	netdev->mtu = adapter->req_mtu - ETH_HLEN;
 
 	netdev_dbg(adapter->netdev, "Login Response Buffer:\n");