diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet-main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet-main.c
index 7892f2f0c6b564..2c2976a2dda6b9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet-main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet-main.c
@@ -613,9 +613,11 @@ static int fs_enet_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	return NETDEV_TX_OK;
 }
 
-static void fs_timeout(struct net_device *dev)
+static void fs_timeout_work(struct work_struct *work)
 {
-	struct fs_enet_private *fep = netdev_priv(dev);
+	struct fs_enet_private *fep = container_of(work, struct fs_enet_private,
+						   timeout_work);
+	struct net_device *dev = fep->ndev;
 	unsigned long flags;
 	int wake = 0;
 
@@ -627,7 +629,6 @@ static void fs_timeout(struct net_device *dev)
 		phy_stop(dev->phydev);
 		(*fep->ops->stop)(dev);
 		(*fep->ops->restart)(dev);
-		phy_start(dev->phydev);
 	}
 
 	phy_start(dev->phydev);
@@ -639,6 +640,13 @@ static void fs_timeout(struct net_device *dev)
 		netif_wake_queue(dev);
 }
 
+static void fs_timeout(struct net_device *dev)
+{
+	struct fs_enet_private *fep = netdev_priv(dev);
+
+	schedule_work(&fep->timeout_work);
+}
+
 /*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  *  generic link-change handler - should be sufficient for most cases
  *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
@@ -759,6 +767,7 @@ static int fs_enet_close(struct net_device *dev)
 	netif_stop_queue(dev);
 	netif_carrier_off(dev);
 	napi_disable(&fep->napi);
+	cancel_work_sync(&fep->timeout_work);
 	phy_stop(dev->phydev);
 
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&fep->lock, flags);
@@ -1019,6 +1028,7 @@ static int fs_enet_probe(struct platform_device *ofdev)
 
 	ndev->netdev_ops = &fs_enet_netdev_ops;
 	ndev->watchdog_timeo = 2 * HZ;
+	INIT_WORK(&fep->timeout_work, fs_timeout_work);
 	netif_napi_add(ndev, &fep->napi, fs_enet_napi, fpi->napi_weight);
 
 	ndev->ethtool_ops = &fs_ethtool_ops;
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet.h
index 92e06b37a199bb..195fae6aec4ae7 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/freescale/fs_enet/fs_enet.h
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ struct fs_enet_private {
 	spinlock_t lock;	/* during all ops except TX pckt processing */
 	spinlock_t tx_lock;	/* during fs_start_xmit and fs_tx         */
 	struct fs_platform_info *fpi;
+	struct work_struct timeout_work;
 	const struct fs_ops *ops;
 	int rx_ring, tx_ring;
 	dma_addr_t ring_mem_addr;