diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/main.c
index d776db79e325..5bea0bf2b484 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/main.c
@@ -155,8 +155,9 @@ static struct mlx5_profile profile[] = {
 	},
 };
 
-#define FW_INIT_TIMEOUT_MILI	2000
-#define FW_INIT_WAIT_MS		2
+#define FW_INIT_TIMEOUT_MILI		2000
+#define FW_INIT_WAIT_MS			2
+#define FW_PRE_INIT_TIMEOUT_MILI	10000
 
 static int wait_fw_init(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev, u32 max_wait_mili)
 {
@@ -956,6 +957,15 @@ static int mlx5_load_one(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev, struct mlx5_priv *priv,
 	 */
 	dev->state = MLX5_DEVICE_STATE_UP;
 
+	/* wait for firmware to accept initialization segments configurations
+	 */
+	err = wait_fw_init(dev, FW_PRE_INIT_TIMEOUT_MILI);
+	if (err) {
+		dev_err(&dev->pdev->dev, "Firmware over %d MS in pre-initializing state, aborting\n",
+			FW_PRE_INIT_TIMEOUT_MILI);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	err = mlx5_cmd_init(dev);
 	if (err) {
 		dev_err(&pdev->dev, "Failed initializing command interface, aborting\n");