diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
index cf07318048df..c838d8698eab 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
@@ -959,6 +959,7 @@ static void cmd_work_handler(struct work_struct *work)
 		cmd_ent_get(ent);
 	set_bit(MLX5_CMD_ENT_STATE_PENDING_COMP, &ent->state);
 
+	cmd_ent_get(ent); /* for the _real_ FW event on completion */
 	/* Skip sending command to fw if internal error */
 	if (mlx5_cmd_is_down(dev) || !opcode_allowed(&dev->cmd, ent->op)) {
 		u8 status = 0;
@@ -972,7 +973,6 @@ static void cmd_work_handler(struct work_struct *work)
 		return;
 	}
 
-	cmd_ent_get(ent); /* for the _real_ FW event on completion */
 	/* ring doorbell after the descriptor is valid */
 	mlx5_core_dbg(dev, "writing 0x%x to command doorbell\n", 1 << ent->idx);
 	wmb();
@@ -1586,8 +1586,8 @@ static void mlx5_cmd_comp_handler(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev, u64 vec, bool force
 				cmd_ent_put(ent); /* timeout work was canceled */
 
 			if (!forced || /* Real FW completion */
-			    pci_channel_offline(dev->pdev) || /* FW is inaccessible */
-			    dev->state == MLX5_DEVICE_STATE_INTERNAL_ERROR)
+			     mlx5_cmd_is_down(dev) || /* No real FW completion is expected */
+			     !opcode_allowed(cmd, ent->op))
 				cmd_ent_put(ent);
 
 			ent->ts2 = ktime_get_ns();