diff --git a/drivers/net/wan/hdlc_x25.c b/drivers/net/wan/hdlc_x25.c
index 34bc53facd11..6938cb3bdf4e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wan/hdlc_x25.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wan/hdlc_x25.c
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 
 struct x25_state {
 	x25_hdlc_proto settings;
+	bool up;
+	spinlock_t up_lock; /* Protects "up" */
 };
 
 static int x25_ioctl(struct net_device *dev, struct ifreq *ifr);
@@ -105,6 +107,8 @@ static void x25_data_transmit(struct net_device *dev, struct sk_buff *skb)
 
 static netdev_tx_t x25_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 {
+	hdlc_device *hdlc = dev_to_hdlc(dev);
+	struct x25_state *x25st = state(hdlc);
 	int result;
 
 	/* There should be a pseudo header of 1 byte added by upper layers.
@@ -115,12 +119,20 @@ static netdev_tx_t x25_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 		return NETDEV_TX_OK;
 	}
 
+	spin_lock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+	if (!x25st->up) {
+		spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+		kfree_skb(skb);
+		return NETDEV_TX_OK;
+	}
+
 	switch (skb->data[0]) {
 	case X25_IFACE_DATA:	/* Data to be transmitted */
 		skb_pull(skb, 1);
 		skb_reset_network_header(skb);
 		if ((result = lapb_data_request(dev, skb)) != LAPB_OK)
 			dev_kfree_skb(skb);
+		spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
 		return NETDEV_TX_OK;
 
 	case X25_IFACE_CONNECT:
@@ -149,6 +161,7 @@ static netdev_tx_t x25_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 		break;
 	}
 
+	spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
 	dev_kfree_skb(skb);
 	return NETDEV_TX_OK;
 }
@@ -166,6 +179,7 @@ static int x25_open(struct net_device *dev)
 		.data_transmit = x25_data_transmit,
 	};
 	hdlc_device *hdlc = dev_to_hdlc(dev);
+	struct x25_state *x25st = state(hdlc);
 	struct lapb_parms_struct params;
 	int result;
 
@@ -192,6 +206,10 @@ static int x25_open(struct net_device *dev)
 	if (result != LAPB_OK)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
+	spin_lock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+	x25st->up = true;
+	spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -199,6 +217,13 @@ static int x25_open(struct net_device *dev)
 
 static void x25_close(struct net_device *dev)
 {
+	hdlc_device *hdlc = dev_to_hdlc(dev);
+	struct x25_state *x25st = state(hdlc);
+
+	spin_lock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+	x25st->up = false;
+	spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+
 	lapb_unregister(dev);
 }
 
@@ -207,15 +232,28 @@ static void x25_close(struct net_device *dev)
 static int x25_rx(struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
 	struct net_device *dev = skb->dev;
+	hdlc_device *hdlc = dev_to_hdlc(dev);
+	struct x25_state *x25st = state(hdlc);
 
 	if ((skb = skb_share_check(skb, GFP_ATOMIC)) == NULL) {
 		dev->stats.rx_dropped++;
 		return NET_RX_DROP;
 	}
 
-	if (lapb_data_received(dev, skb) == LAPB_OK)
-		return NET_RX_SUCCESS;
+	spin_lock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+	if (!x25st->up) {
+		spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+		kfree_skb(skb);
+		dev->stats.rx_dropped++;
+		return NET_RX_DROP;
+	}
 
+	if (lapb_data_received(dev, skb) == LAPB_OK) {
+		spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
+		return NET_RX_SUCCESS;
+	}
+
+	spin_unlock_bh(&x25st->up_lock);
 	dev->stats.rx_errors++;
 	dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
 	return NET_RX_DROP;
@@ -300,6 +338,8 @@ static int x25_ioctl(struct net_device *dev, struct ifreq *ifr)
 			return result;
 
 		memcpy(&state(hdlc)->settings, &new_settings, size);
+		state(hdlc)->up = false;
+		spin_lock_init(&state(hdlc)->up_lock);
 
 		/* There's no header_ops so hard_header_len should be 0. */
 		dev->hard_header_len = 0;