diff --git a/include/linux/netdevice.h b/include/linux/netdevice.h
index 072652d94d9f..d8fd2c23a1b9 100644
--- a/include/linux/netdevice.h
+++ b/include/linux/netdevice.h
@@ -1554,6 +1554,11 @@ static inline void netif_tx_wake_all_queues(struct net_device *dev)
 
 static inline void netif_tx_stop_queue(struct netdev_queue *dev_queue)
 {
+	if (WARN_ON(!dev_queue)) {
+		printk(KERN_INFO "netif_stop_queue() cannot be called before "
+		       "register_netdev()");
+		return;
+	}
 	set_bit(__QUEUE_STATE_XOFF, &dev_queue->state);
 }