diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
index 5a2126679415..336e0a54b3dc 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
@@ -289,6 +289,10 @@ static void poll_timeout(struct mlx5_cmd_work_ent *ent)
 			return;
 		}
 		cond_resched();
+		if (mlx5_cmd_is_down(dev)) {
+			ent->ret = -ENXIO;
+			return;
+		}
 	} while (time_before(jiffies, poll_end));
 
 	ent->ret = -ETIMEDOUT;
@@ -1059,7 +1063,7 @@ static void cmd_work_handler(struct work_struct *work)
 		poll_timeout(ent);
 		/* make sure we read the descriptor after ownership is SW */
 		rmb();
-		mlx5_cmd_comp_handler(dev, 1ULL << ent->idx, (ent->ret == -ETIMEDOUT));
+		mlx5_cmd_comp_handler(dev, 1ULL << ent->idx, !!ent->ret);
 	}
 }