diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
index ad9064df3deb..37178b078ee3 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
@@ -3171,14 +3171,20 @@ static int virtnet_probe(struct virtio_device *vdev)
 		}
 	}
 
-	err = register_netdev(dev);
+	/* serialize netdev register + virtio_device_ready() with ndo_open() */
+	rtnl_lock();
+
+	err = register_netdevice(dev);
 	if (err) {
 		pr_debug("virtio_net: registering device failed\n");
+		rtnl_unlock();
 		goto free_failover;
 	}
 
 	virtio_device_ready(vdev);
 
+	rtnl_unlock();
+
 	err = virtnet_cpu_notif_add(vi);
 	if (err) {
 		pr_debug("virtio_net: registering cpu notifier failed\n");