diff --git a/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe.h b/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe.h
index 393ceae..744b641 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe.h
@@ -131,6 +131,13 @@
 	u8 vf_macvlan[ETH_ALEN];
 };
 
+#define IXGBE_MAX_TXD_PWR	14
+#define IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD	(1 << IXGBE_MAX_TXD_PWR)
+
+/* Tx Descriptors needed, worst case */
+#define TXD_USE_COUNT(S) DIV_ROUND_UP((S), IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD)
+#define DESC_NEEDED ((MAX_SKB_FRAGS * TXD_USE_COUNT(PAGE_SIZE)) + 4)
+
 /* wrapper around a pointer to a socket buffer,
  * so a DMA handle can be stored along with the buffer */
 struct ixgbe_tx_buffer {
diff --git a/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_main.c b/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_main.c
index 00e60c5..305e1e4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_main.c
@@ -772,15 +772,6 @@
 	return ret;
 }
 
-#define IXGBE_MAX_TXD_PWR       14
-#define IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD  (1 << IXGBE_MAX_TXD_PWR)
-
-/* Tx Descriptors needed, worst case */
-#define TXD_USE_COUNT(S) (((S) >> IXGBE_MAX_TXD_PWR) + \
-			 (((S) & (IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD - 1)) ? 1 : 0))
-#define DESC_NEEDED (TXD_USE_COUNT(IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD) /* skb->data */ + \
-	MAX_SKB_FRAGS * TXD_USE_COUNT(PAGE_SIZE) + 1) /* for context */
-
 /**
  * ixgbe_tx_timeout_reset - initiate reset due to Tx timeout
  * @adapter: driver private struct
@@ -6832,14 +6823,34 @@
 			  struct ixgbe_adapter *adapter,
 			  struct ixgbe_ring *tx_ring)
 {
-	unsigned int tx_flags = 0;
 	int tso;
-	u16 count = 0;
+	u32  tx_flags = 0;
+#if PAGE_SIZE > IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD
+	unsigned short f;
+#endif
 	u16 first;
-	unsigned int f;
+	u16 count = TXD_USE_COUNT(skb_headlen(skb));
 	__be16 protocol;
 	u8 hdr_len = 0;
 
+	/*
+	 * need: 1 descriptor per page * PAGE_SIZE/IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD,
+	 *       + 1 desc for skb_head_len/IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD,
+	 *       + 2 desc gap to keep tail from touching head,
+	 *       + 1 desc for context descriptor,
+	 * otherwise try next time
+	 */
+#if PAGE_SIZE > IXGBE_MAX_DATA_PER_TXD
+	for (f = 0; f < skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags; f++)
+		count += TXD_USE_COUNT(skb_shinfo(skb)->frags[f].size);
+#else
+	count += skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags;
+#endif
+	if (ixgbe_maybe_stop_tx(tx_ring, count + 3)) {
+		tx_ring->tx_stats.tx_busy++;
+		return NETDEV_TX_BUSY;
+	}
+
 	protocol = vlan_get_protocol(skb);
 
 	if (vlan_tx_tag_present(skb)) {
@@ -6863,25 +6874,11 @@
 	if (adapter->flags & IXGBE_FLAG_FCOE_ENABLED &&
 	    (protocol == htons(ETH_P_FCOE)))
 		tx_flags |= IXGBE_TX_FLAGS_FCOE;
+
 #endif
-
-	/* four things can cause us to need a context descriptor */
-	if (skb_is_gso(skb) ||
-	    (skb->ip_summed == CHECKSUM_PARTIAL) ||
-	    (tx_flags & IXGBE_TX_FLAGS_VLAN) ||
-	    (tx_flags & IXGBE_TX_FLAGS_FCOE))
-		count++;
-
-	count += TXD_USE_COUNT(skb_headlen(skb));
-	for (f = 0; f < skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags; f++)
-		count += TXD_USE_COUNT(skb_shinfo(skb)->frags[f].size);
-
-	if (ixgbe_maybe_stop_tx(tx_ring, count)) {
-		tx_ring->tx_stats.tx_busy++;
-		return NETDEV_TX_BUSY;
-	}
-
+	/* record the location of the first descriptor for this packet */
 	first = tx_ring->next_to_use;
+
 	if (tx_flags & IXGBE_TX_FLAGS_FCOE) {
 #ifdef IXGBE_FCOE
 		/* setup tx offload for FCoE */