diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/engleder/tsnep_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/engleder/tsnep_main.c
index 00436a6f785e..2be518db0427 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/engleder/tsnep_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/engleder/tsnep_main.c
@@ -930,6 +930,10 @@ static int tsnep_poll(struct napi_struct *napi, int budget)
 	if (queue->tx)
 		complete = tsnep_tx_poll(queue->tx, budget);
 
+	/* handle case where we are called by netpoll with a budget of 0 */
+	if (unlikely(budget <= 0))
+		return budget;
+
 	if (queue->rx) {
 		done = tsnep_rx_poll(queue->rx, napi, budget);
 		if (done >= budget)