diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
index 335417b4756b73d3d2d9f1558b10b2556443bee7..ebe60719e489cd1fbdc12248ee48eed6d0979fd4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
@@ -1166,7 +1166,10 @@ static netdev_tx_t ibmveth_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb,
 	if (!firmware_has_feature(FW_FEATURE_CMO))
 		netdev_err(netdev, "tx: unable to map xmit buffer\n");
 	adapter->tx_map_failed++;
-	skb_linearize(skb);
+	if (skb_linearize(skb)) {
+		netdev->stats.tx_dropped++;
+		goto out;
+	}
 	force_bounce = 1;
 	goto retry_bounce;
 }