diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
index 832fffed4a1f..e7585f6c4665 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
@@ -6646,7 +6646,7 @@ static int i40e_get_capabilities(struct i40e_pf *pf)
 		if (pf->hw.aq.asq_last_status == I40E_AQ_RC_ENOMEM) {
 			/* retry with a larger buffer */
 			buf_len = data_size;
-		} else if (pf->hw.aq.asq_last_status != I40E_AQ_RC_OK) {
+		} else if (pf->hw.aq.asq_last_status != I40E_AQ_RC_OK || err) {
 			dev_info(&pf->pdev->dev,
 				 "capability discovery failed, err %s aq_err %s\n",
 				 i40e_stat_str(&pf->hw, err),