diff --git a/net/ethtool/channels.c b/net/ethtool/channels.c
index 7b4bbd674bae..cee188da54f8 100644
--- a/net/ethtool/channels.c
+++ b/net/ethtool/channels.c
@@ -171,11 +171,9 @@ ethnl_set_channels(struct ethnl_req_info *req_info, struct genl_info *info)
 	 */
 	if (ethtool_get_max_rxnfc_channel(dev, &max_rxnfc_in_use))
 		max_rxnfc_in_use = 0;
-	if (!netif_is_rxfh_configured(dev) ||
-	    ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(dev, &max_rxfh_in_use))
-		max_rxfh_in_use = 0;
+	max_rxfh_in_use = ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(dev);
 	if (channels.combined_count + channels.rx_count <= max_rxfh_in_use) {
-		GENL_SET_ERR_MSG(info, "requested channel counts are too low for existing indirection table settings");
+		GENL_SET_ERR_MSG_FMT(info, "requested channel counts are too low for existing indirection table (%d)", max_rxfh_in_use);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 	if (channels.combined_count + channels.rx_count <= max_rxnfc_in_use) {
diff --git a/net/ethtool/common.c b/net/ethtool/common.c
index 6b2a360dcdf0..8a62375ebd1f 100644
--- a/net/ethtool/common.c
+++ b/net/ethtool/common.c
@@ -587,35 +587,39 @@ err_free_info:
 	return err;
 }
 
-int ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(struct net_device *dev, u32 *max)
+u32 ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(struct net_device *dev)
 {
 	struct ethtool_rxfh_param rxfh = {};
-	u32 dev_size, current_max = 0;
+	u32 dev_size, current_max;
 	int ret;
 
+	if (!netif_is_rxfh_configured(dev))
+		return 0;
+
 	if (!dev->ethtool_ops->get_rxfh_indir_size ||
 	    !dev->ethtool_ops->get_rxfh)
-		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+		return 0;
 	dev_size = dev->ethtool_ops->get_rxfh_indir_size(dev);
 	if (dev_size == 0)
-		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+		return 0;
 
 	rxfh.indir = kcalloc(dev_size, sizeof(rxfh.indir[0]), GFP_USER);
 	if (!rxfh.indir)
-		return -ENOMEM;
+		return U32_MAX;
 
 	ret = dev->ethtool_ops->get_rxfh(dev, &rxfh);
-	if (ret)
-		goto out;
+	if (ret) {
+		current_max = U32_MAX;
+		goto out_free;
+	}
 
+	current_max = 0;
 	while (dev_size--)
 		current_max = max(current_max, rxfh.indir[dev_size]);
 
-	*max = current_max;
-
-out:
+out_free:
 	kfree(rxfh.indir);
-	return ret;
+	return current_max;
 }
 
 int ethtool_check_ops(const struct ethtool_ops *ops)
diff --git a/net/ethtool/common.h b/net/ethtool/common.h
index 28b8aaaf9bcb..b55705a9ad5a 100644
--- a/net/ethtool/common.h
+++ b/net/ethtool/common.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ int __ethtool_get_link(struct net_device *dev);
 bool convert_legacy_settings_to_link_ksettings(
 	struct ethtool_link_ksettings *link_ksettings,
 	const struct ethtool_cmd *legacy_settings);
-int ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(struct net_device *dev, u32 *max);
+u32 ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(struct net_device *dev);
 int ethtool_get_max_rxnfc_channel(struct net_device *dev, u64 *max);
 int __ethtool_get_ts_info(struct net_device *dev, struct ethtool_ts_info *info);
 
diff --git a/net/ethtool/ioctl.c b/net/ethtool/ioctl.c
index d72b0fec89af..615812ff8974 100644
--- a/net/ethtool/ioctl.c
+++ b/net/ethtool/ioctl.c
@@ -2049,9 +2049,7 @@ static noinline_for_stack int ethtool_set_channels(struct net_device *dev,
 	 * indirection table/rxnfc settings */
 	if (ethtool_get_max_rxnfc_channel(dev, &max_rxnfc_in_use))
 		max_rxnfc_in_use = 0;
-	if (!netif_is_rxfh_configured(dev) ||
-	    ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(dev, &max_rxfh_in_use))
-		max_rxfh_in_use = 0;
+	max_rxfh_in_use = ethtool_get_max_rxfh_channel(dev);
 	if (channels.combined_count + channels.rx_count <=
 	    max_t(u64, max_rxnfc_in_use, max_rxfh_in_use))
 		return -EINVAL;