diff --git a/drivers/net/slip/slip.c b/drivers/net/slip/slip.c
index f81fb0b13a94..369bd30fed35 100644
--- a/drivers/net/slip/slip.c
+++ b/drivers/net/slip/slip.c
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ static void sl_tx_timeout(struct net_device *dev, unsigned int txqueue)
 	spin_lock(&sl->lock);
 
 	if (netif_queue_stopped(dev)) {
-		if (!netif_running(dev))
+		if (!netif_running(dev) || !sl->tty)
 			goto out;
 
 		/* May be we must check transmitter timeout here ?