diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/ti/davinci_cpdma.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/ti/davinci_cpdma.c
index d6f0ded7dafc..a53b38455a2f 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/ti/davinci_cpdma.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/ti/davinci_cpdma.c
@@ -1159,7 +1159,7 @@ static int __cpdma_chan_process(struct cpdma_chan *chan)
 	chan->count--;
 	chan->stats.good_dequeue++;
 
-	if (status & CPDMA_DESC_EOQ) {
+	if ((status & CPDMA_DESC_EOQ) && chan->head) {
 		chan->stats.requeue++;
 		chan_write(chan, hdp, desc_phys(pool, chan->head));
 	}