--- x/drivers/block/aoe/aoenet.c
+++ a/drivers/block/aoe/aoenet.c
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ aoenet_xmit(struct sk_buff_head *queue)
 
 	skb_queue_walk_safe(queue, skb, tmp) {
 		__skb_unlink(skb, queue);
+		BUG_ON(skb->dev->reg_state != NETREG_REGISTERED);
 		spin_lock_irqsave(&txlock, flags);
 		skb_queue_tail(&skbtxq, skb);
 		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&txlock, flags);