diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c
index d22c9d35035569cced3302a58bc8acbcc4c2d7ce..c1378b5c780cf82fba99364d82118febc38fa229 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/thunder/nicvf_main.c
@@ -2177,6 +2177,9 @@ static int nicvf_probe(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *ent)
 		nic->max_queues *= 2;
 	nic->ptp_clock = ptp_clock;
 
+	/* Initialize mutex that serializes usage of VF's mailbox */
+	mutex_init(&nic->rx_mode_mtx);
+
 	/* MAP VF's configuration registers */
 	nic->reg_base = pcim_iomap(pdev, PCI_CFG_REG_BAR_NUM, 0);
 	if (!nic->reg_base) {
@@ -2253,7 +2256,6 @@ static int nicvf_probe(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *ent)
 
 	INIT_WORK(&nic->rx_mode_work.work, nicvf_set_rx_mode_task);
 	spin_lock_init(&nic->rx_mode_wq_lock);
-	mutex_init(&nic->rx_mode_mtx);
 
 	err = register_netdev(netdev);
 	if (err) {