diff --git a/etc/pccard_ether b/etc/pccard_ether
index d2a24fafe24b..355e188983ba 100755
--- a/etc/pccard_ether
+++ b/etc/pccard_ether
@@ -69,11 +69,13 @@ pccard_ether_start()
 {
 	ifexists $ifn || exit 1
 
-	if [ -z "$rc_force" -a -x /usr/bin/grep ]; then
-		if ifconfig $ifn | grep -s '[<,]UP[,>]' > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-		    # Interface is already up, so ignore it.
-		    exit 0
-		fi
+	if [ -z "$rc_force" ]; then
+		for uif in `ifconfig -ul`; do
+			if [ "${uif}" = "${ifn}" ]; then
+				# Interface is already up, so ignore it.
+				exit 0
+			fi
+		done
 	fi
 
 	/etc/rc.d/netif start $ifn