diff --git a/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c b/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c
index 2957e3a0080c..87c0bcfef480 100644
--- a/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c
+++ b/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c
@@ -1097,6 +1097,9 @@ static void __handle_link_change(struct usbnet *dev)
 	if (!test_bit(EVENT_DEV_OPEN, &dev->flags))
 		return;
 
+	if (test_and_clear_bit(EVENT_LINK_CARRIER_ON, &dev->flags))
+		netif_carrier_on(dev->net);
+
 	if (!netif_carrier_ok(dev->net)) {
 		/* kill URBs for reading packets to save bus bandwidth */
 		unlink_urbs(dev, &dev->rxq);
@@ -1106,9 +1109,6 @@ static void __handle_link_change(struct usbnet *dev)
 		 * tx queue is stopped by netcore after link becomes off
 		 */
 	} else {
-		if (test_and_clear_bit(EVENT_LINK_CARRIER_ON, &dev->flags))
-			netif_carrier_on(dev->net);
-
 		/* submitting URBs for reading packets */
 		tasklet_schedule(&dev->bh);
 	}