diff --git a/drivers/net/netconsole.c b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
index e56aa6c..75cb761 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netconsole.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
@@ -75,16 +75,16 @@
 	int frag, left;
 	unsigned long flags;
 
-	local_irq_save(flags);
-
-	for (left = len; left;) {
-		frag = min(left, MAX_PRINT_CHUNK);
-		netpoll_send_udp(&np, msg, frag);
-		msg += frag;
-		left -= frag;
+	if (netif_running(np.dev)) {
+		local_irq_save(flags);
+		for (left = len; left;) {
+			frag = min(left, MAX_PRINT_CHUNK);
+			netpoll_send_udp(&np, msg, frag);
+			msg += frag;
+			left -= frag;
+		}
+		local_irq_restore(flags);
 	}
-
-	local_irq_restore(flags);
 }
 
 static struct console netconsole = {