diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/eswitch.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/eswitch.c
index 31956cd9d1bb..ecd8864d5d11 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/eswitch.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/eswitch.c
@@ -1601,7 +1601,8 @@ static int mlx5_esw_vports_init(struct mlx5_eswitch *esw)
 		idx++;
 	}
 
-	if (mlx5_ecpf_vport_exists(dev)) {
+	if (mlx5_ecpf_vport_exists(dev) ||
+	    mlx5_core_is_ecpf_esw_manager(dev)) {
 		err = mlx5_esw_vport_alloc(esw, idx, MLX5_VPORT_ECPF);
 		if (err)
 			goto err;