diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/esw/ipsec_fs.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/esw/ipsec_fs.c
index 13b5916b64e2..d5d33c3b3aa2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/esw/ipsec_fs.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/esw/ipsec_fs.c
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ void mlx5_esw_ipsec_restore_dest_uplink(struct mlx5_core_dev *mdev)
 
 	xa_for_each(&esw->offloads.vport_reps, i, rep) {
 		rpriv = rep->rep_data[REP_ETH].priv;
-		if (!rpriv || !rpriv->netdev)
+		if (!rpriv || !rpriv->netdev || !atomic_read(&rpriv->tc_ht.nelems))
 			continue;
 
 		rhashtable_walk_enter(&rpriv->tc_ht, &iter);