diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c
index 89807e32a898..0ce68e8a45cc 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c
@@ -870,16 +870,6 @@ static int i40e_set_link_ksettings(struct net_device *netdev,
 	/* save autoneg out of ksettings */
 	autoneg = copy_ks.base.autoneg;
 
-	memset(&safe_ks, 0, sizeof(safe_ks));
-	/* Get link modes supported by hardware and check against modes
-	 * requested by the user.  Return an error if unsupported mode was set.
-	 */
-	i40e_phy_type_to_ethtool(pf, &safe_ks);
-	if (!bitmap_subset(copy_ks.link_modes.advertising,
-			   safe_ks.link_modes.supported,
-			   __ETHTOOL_LINK_MODE_MASK_NBITS))
-		return -EINVAL;
-
 	/* get our own copy of the bits to check against */
 	memset(&safe_ks, 0, sizeof(struct ethtool_link_ksettings));
 	safe_ks.base.cmd = copy_ks.base.cmd;
@@ -887,6 +877,14 @@ static int i40e_set_link_ksettings(struct net_device *netdev,
 		copy_ks.base.link_mode_masks_nwords;
 	i40e_get_link_ksettings(netdev, &safe_ks);
 
+	/* Get link modes supported by hardware and check against modes
+	 * requested by the user.  Return an error if unsupported mode was set.
+	 */
+	if (!bitmap_subset(copy_ks.link_modes.advertising,
+			   safe_ks.link_modes.supported,
+			   __ETHTOOL_LINK_MODE_MASK_NBITS))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	/* set autoneg back to what it currently is */
 	copy_ks.base.autoneg = safe_ks.base.autoneg;