diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/main.c
index d44ac666e730..87c2e8de6102 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/main.c
@@ -2550,6 +2550,7 @@ static int mlx4_allocate_default_counters(struct mlx4_dev *dev)
 
 		if (!err || err == -ENOSPC) {
 			priv->def_counter[port] = idx;
+			err = 0;
 		} else if (err == -ENOENT) {
 			err = 0;
 			continue;
@@ -2600,7 +2601,8 @@ int mlx4_counter_alloc(struct mlx4_dev *dev, u32 *idx, u8 usage)
 				   MLX4_CMD_TIME_CLASS_A, MLX4_CMD_WRAPPED);
 		if (!err)
 			*idx = get_param_l(&out_param);
-
+		if (WARN_ON(err == -ENOSPC))
+			err = -EINVAL;
 		return err;
 	}
 	return __mlx4_counter_alloc(dev, idx);