diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 87e67194f240..dc9f9c4dcb49 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -2903,7 +2903,7 @@ static int do_setlink(const struct sk_buff *skb,
 			goto errout;
 	}
 
-	if (tb[IFLA_MASTER]) {
+	if (tb[IFLA_MASTER] && !(dev->flags & IFF_UP)) {
 		err = do_set_master(dev, nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_MASTER]), extack);
 		if (err)
 			goto errout;