diff --git a/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.c
index 53fdfde9a8..42e2b50831 100644
--- a/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.c
@@ -1038,9 +1038,11 @@ static int qede_dev_start(struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev)
 	PMD_INIT_FUNC_TRACE(edev);
 
 	/* Update MTU only if it has changed */
-	if (eth_dev->data->mtu != qdev->mtu) {
-		if (qede_update_mtu(eth_dev, qdev->mtu))
+	if (qdev->new_mtu && qdev->new_mtu != qdev->mtu) {
+		if (qede_update_mtu(eth_dev, qdev->new_mtu))
 			goto err;
+		qdev->mtu = qdev->new_mtu;
+		qdev->new_mtu = 0;
 	}
 
 	/* Configure TPA parameters */
@@ -2248,7 +2250,7 @@ static int qede_set_mtu(struct rte_eth_dev *dev, uint16_t mtu)
 		restart = true;
 	}
 	rte_delay_ms(1000);
-	qdev->mtu = mtu;
+	qdev->new_mtu = mtu;
 
 	/* Fix up RX buf size for all queues of the port */
 	for (i = 0; i < qdev->num_rx_queues; i++) {
diff --git a/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.h b/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.h
index 21115a077e..b988a73f23 100644
--- a/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.h
+++ b/drivers/net/qede/qede_ethdev.h
@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ struct qede_dev {
 	struct qede_fastpath *fp_array;
 	struct qede_fastpath_cmt *fp_array_cmt;
 	uint16_t mtu;
+	uint16_t new_mtu;
 	bool enable_tx_switching;
 	bool rss_enable;
 	struct rte_eth_rss_conf rss_conf;