diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_config.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_config.h
index 1622a6ebf036..91cfa19c65b9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_config.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_config.h
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@
 #define OCTEP_64BYTE_INSTR  64
 
 /* Tx Queue: maximum descriptors per ring */
+/* This needs to be a power of 2 */
 #define OCTEP_IQ_MAX_DESCRIPTORS    1024
 /* Minimum input (Tx) requests to be enqueued to ring doorbell */
-#define OCTEP_DB_MIN                1
+#define OCTEP_DB_MIN                8
 /* Packet threshold for Tx queue interrupt */
 #define OCTEP_IQ_INTR_THRESHOLD     0x0
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.c
index 552970c7dec0..974a34be9ffa 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.c
@@ -777,17 +777,24 @@ static int octep_stop(struct net_device *netdev)
  */
 static inline int octep_iq_full_check(struct octep_iq *iq)
 {
-	if (likely((iq->max_count - atomic_read(&iq->instr_pending)) >=
+	if (likely((IQ_INSTR_SPACE(iq)) >
 		   OCTEP_WAKE_QUEUE_THRESHOLD))
 		return 0;
 
 	/* Stop the queue if unable to send */
 	netif_stop_subqueue(iq->netdev, iq->q_no);
 
+	/* Allow for pending updates in write index
+	 * from iq_process_completion in other cpus
+	 * to reflect, in case queue gets free
+	 * entries.
+	 */
+	smp_mb();
+
 	/* check again and restart the queue, in case NAPI has just freed
 	 * enough Tx ring entries.
 	 */
-	if (unlikely((iq->max_count - atomic_read(&iq->instr_pending)) >=
+	if (unlikely(IQ_INSTR_SPACE(iq) >
 		     OCTEP_WAKE_QUEUE_THRESHOLD)) {
 		netif_start_subqueue(iq->netdev, iq->q_no);
 		iq->stats.restart_cnt++;
@@ -818,8 +825,12 @@ static netdev_tx_t octep_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb,
 	struct octep_iq *iq;
 	skb_frag_t *frag;
 	u16 nr_frags, si;
+	int xmit_more;
 	u16 q_no, wi;
 
+	if (skb_put_padto(skb, ETH_ZLEN))
+		return NETDEV_TX_OK;
+
 	q_no = skb_get_queue_mapping(skb);
 	if (q_no >= oct->num_iqs) {
 		netdev_err(netdev, "Invalid Tx skb->queue_mapping=%d\n", q_no);
@@ -827,10 +838,6 @@ static netdev_tx_t octep_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb,
 	}
 
 	iq = oct->iq[q_no];
-	if (octep_iq_full_check(iq)) {
-		iq->stats.tx_busy++;
-		return NETDEV_TX_BUSY;
-	}
 
 	shinfo = skb_shinfo(skb);
 	nr_frags = shinfo->nr_frags;
@@ -869,9 +876,6 @@ static netdev_tx_t octep_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb,
 		if (dma_mapping_error(iq->dev, dma))
 			goto dma_map_err;
 
-		dma_sync_single_for_cpu(iq->dev, tx_buffer->sglist_dma,
-					OCTEP_SGLIST_SIZE_PER_PKT,
-					DMA_TO_DEVICE);
 		memset(sglist, 0, OCTEP_SGLIST_SIZE_PER_PKT);
 		sglist[0].len[3] = len;
 		sglist[0].dma_ptr[0] = dma;
@@ -891,26 +895,33 @@ static netdev_tx_t octep_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb,
 			frag++;
 			si++;
 		}
-		dma_sync_single_for_device(iq->dev, tx_buffer->sglist_dma,
-					   OCTEP_SGLIST_SIZE_PER_PKT,
-					   DMA_TO_DEVICE);
-
 		hw_desc->dptr = tx_buffer->sglist_dma;
 	}
 
-	netdev_tx_sent_queue(iq->netdev_q, skb->len);
+	xmit_more = netdev_xmit_more();
+
+	__netdev_tx_sent_queue(iq->netdev_q, skb->len, xmit_more);
+
 	skb_tx_timestamp(skb);
-	atomic_inc(&iq->instr_pending);
+	iq->fill_cnt++;
 	wi++;
-	if (wi == iq->max_count)
-		wi = 0;
-	iq->host_write_index = wi;
+	iq->host_write_index = wi & iq->ring_size_mask;
+
+	/* octep_iq_full_check stops the queue and returns
+	 * true if so, in case the queue has become full
+	 * by inserting current packet. If so, we can
+	 * go ahead and ring doorbell.
+	 */
+	if (!octep_iq_full_check(iq) && xmit_more &&
+	    iq->fill_cnt < iq->fill_threshold)
+		return NETDEV_TX_OK;
+
 	/* Flush the hw descriptor before writing to doorbell */
 	wmb();
-
-	/* Ring Doorbell to notify the NIC there is a new packet */
-	writel(1, iq->doorbell_reg);
-	iq->stats.instr_posted++;
+	/* Ring Doorbell to notify the NIC of new packets */
+	writel(iq->fill_cnt, iq->doorbell_reg);
+	iq->stats.instr_posted += iq->fill_cnt;
+	iq->fill_cnt = 0;
 	return NETDEV_TX_OK;
 
 dma_map_sg_err:
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.h
index 6df902ebb7f3..c33e046b69a4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_main.h
@@ -40,6 +40,15 @@
 #define  OCTEP_OQ_INTR_RESEND_BIT  59
 
 #define  OCTEP_MMIO_REGIONS     3
+
+#define  IQ_INSTR_PENDING(iq)  ({ typeof(iq) iq__ = (iq); \
+				  ((iq__)->host_write_index - (iq__)->flush_index) & \
+				  (iq__)->ring_size_mask; \
+				})
+#define  IQ_INSTR_SPACE(iq)    ({ typeof(iq) iq_ = (iq); \
+				  (iq_)->max_count - IQ_INSTR_PENDING(iq_); \
+				})
+
 /* PCI address space mapping information.
  * Each of the 3 address spaces given by BAR0, BAR2 and BAR4 of
  * Octeon gets mapped to different physical address spaces in
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.c
index d0adb82d65c3..06851b78aa28 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.c
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ static void octep_iq_reset_indices(struct octep_iq *iq)
 	iq->flush_index = 0;
 	iq->pkts_processed = 0;
 	iq->pkt_in_done = 0;
-	atomic_set(&iq->instr_pending, 0);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -82,7 +81,6 @@ int octep_iq_process_completions(struct octep_iq *iq, u16 budget)
 	}
 
 	iq->pkts_processed += compl_pkts;
-	atomic_sub(compl_pkts, &iq->instr_pending);
 	iq->stats.instr_completed += compl_pkts;
 	iq->stats.bytes_sent += compl_bytes;
 	iq->stats.sgentry_sent += compl_sg;
@@ -91,7 +89,7 @@ int octep_iq_process_completions(struct octep_iq *iq, u16 budget)
 	netdev_tx_completed_queue(iq->netdev_q, compl_pkts, compl_bytes);
 
 	if (unlikely(__netif_subqueue_stopped(iq->netdev, iq->q_no)) &&
-	    ((iq->max_count - atomic_read(&iq->instr_pending)) >
+	    (IQ_INSTR_SPACE(iq) >
 	     OCTEP_WAKE_QUEUE_THRESHOLD))
 		netif_wake_subqueue(iq->netdev, iq->q_no);
 	return !budget;
@@ -144,7 +142,6 @@ static void octep_iq_free_pending(struct octep_iq *iq)
 		dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
 	}
 
-	atomic_set(&iq->instr_pending, 0);
 	iq->flush_index = fi;
 	netdev_tx_reset_queue(netdev_get_tx_queue(iq->netdev, iq->q_no));
 }
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.h
index 86c98b13fc44..1ba4ff65e54d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeon_ep/octep_tx.h
@@ -172,9 +172,6 @@ struct octep_iq {
 	/* Statistics for this input queue. */
 	struct octep_iq_stats stats;
 
-	/* This field keeps track of the instructions pending in this queue. */
-	atomic_t instr_pending;
-
 	/* Pointer to the Virtual Base addr of the input ring. */
 	struct octep_tx_desc_hw *desc_ring;