diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
index 836617fb3f40..45ba40cf4d07 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
@@ -483,17 +483,6 @@ retry:
 	return rc;
 }
 
-static u64 ibmveth_encode_mac_addr(u8 *mac)
-{
-	int i;
-	u64 encoded = 0;
-
-	for (i = 0; i < ETH_ALEN; i++)
-		encoded = (encoded << 8) | mac[i];
-
-	return encoded;
-}
-
 static int ibmveth_open(struct net_device *netdev)
 {
 	struct ibmveth_adapter *adapter = netdev_priv(netdev);
@@ -553,7 +542,7 @@ static int ibmveth_open(struct net_device *netdev)
 	adapter->rx_queue.num_slots = rxq_entries;
 	adapter->rx_queue.toggle = 1;
 
-	mac_address = ibmveth_encode_mac_addr(netdev->dev_addr);
+	mac_address = ether_addr_to_u64(netdev->dev_addr);
 
 	rxq_desc.fields.flags_len = IBMVETH_BUF_VALID |
 					adapter->rx_queue.queue_len;
@@ -1476,7 +1465,7 @@ static void ibmveth_set_multicast_list(struct net_device *netdev)
 		netdev_for_each_mc_addr(ha, netdev) {
 			/* add the multicast address to the filter table */
 			u64 mcast_addr;
-			mcast_addr = ibmveth_encode_mac_addr(ha->addr);
+			mcast_addr = ether_addr_to_u64(ha->addr);
 			lpar_rc = h_multicast_ctrl(adapter->vdev->unit_address,
 						   IbmVethMcastAddFilter,
 						   mcast_addr);
@@ -1606,7 +1595,7 @@ static int ibmveth_set_mac_addr(struct net_device *dev, void *p)
 	if (!is_valid_ether_addr(addr->sa_data))
 		return -EADDRNOTAVAIL;
 
-	mac_address = ibmveth_encode_mac_addr(addr->sa_data);
+	mac_address = ether_addr_to_u64(addr->sa_data);
 	rc = h_change_logical_lan_mac(adapter->vdev->unit_address, mac_address);
 	if (rc) {
 		netdev_err(adapter->netdev, "h_change_logical_lan_mac failed with rc=%d\n", rc);