diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/renesas/sh_eth.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/renesas/sh_eth.c
index e7bab7909ed9..b1ebd7c7408c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/renesas/sh_eth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/renesas/sh_eth.c
@@ -1462,6 +1462,7 @@ static int sh_eth_rx(struct net_device *ndev, u32 intr_status, int *quota)
 		if (mdp->cd->shift_rd0)
 			desc_status >>= 16;
 
+		skb = mdp->rx_skbuff[entry];
 		if (desc_status & (RD_RFS1 | RD_RFS2 | RD_RFS3 | RD_RFS4 |
 				   RD_RFS5 | RD_RFS6 | RD_RFS10)) {
 			ndev->stats.rx_errors++;
@@ -1477,12 +1478,11 @@ static int sh_eth_rx(struct net_device *ndev, u32 intr_status, int *quota)
 				ndev->stats.rx_missed_errors++;
 			if (desc_status & RD_RFS10)
 				ndev->stats.rx_over_errors++;
-		} else {
+		} else	if (skb) {
 			if (!mdp->cd->hw_swap)
 				sh_eth_soft_swap(
 					phys_to_virt(ALIGN(rxdesc->addr, 4)),
 					pkt_len + 2);
-			skb = mdp->rx_skbuff[entry];
 			mdp->rx_skbuff[entry] = NULL;
 			if (mdp->cd->rpadir)
 				skb_reserve(skb, NET_IP_ALIGN);