diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
index ac04112..33cd8b6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e.h
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@
 	bool fc_autoneg_status;
 
 	u16 eeprom_version;
-	u16 num_vmdq_vsis;         /* num vmdq pools this pf has set up */
+	u16 num_vmdq_vsis;         /* num vmdq vsis this pf has set up */
 	u16 num_vmdq_qps;          /* num queue pairs per vmdq pool */
 	u16 num_vmdq_msix;         /* num queue vectors per vmdq pool */
 	u16 num_req_vfs;           /* num vfs requested for this vf */
@@ -597,6 +597,7 @@
 void i40e_irq_dynamic_disable_icr0(struct i40e_pf *pf);
 void i40e_irq_dynamic_enable_icr0(struct i40e_pf *pf);
 int i40e_ioctl(struct net_device *netdev, struct ifreq *ifr, int cmd);
+int i40e_vsi_open(struct i40e_vsi *vsi);
 void i40e_vlan_stripping_disable(struct i40e_vsi *vsi);
 int i40e_vsi_add_vlan(struct i40e_vsi *vsi, s16 vid);
 int i40e_vsi_kill_vlan(struct i40e_vsi *vsi, s16 vid);
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
index 5015dad..661cd42 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
@@ -4235,7 +4235,6 @@
 	struct i40e_netdev_priv *np = netdev_priv(netdev);
 	struct i40e_vsi *vsi = np->vsi;
 	struct i40e_pf *pf = vsi->back;
-	char int_name[IFNAMSIZ];
 	int err;
 
 	/* disallow open during test */
@@ -4244,6 +4243,31 @@
 
 	netif_carrier_off(netdev);
 
+	err = i40e_vsi_open(vsi);
+	if (err)
+		return err;
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_I40E_VXLAN
+	vxlan_get_rx_port(netdev);
+#endif
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/**
+ * i40e_vsi_open -
+ * @vsi: the VSI to open
+ *
+ * Finish initialization of the VSI.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success, negative value on failure
+ **/
+int i40e_vsi_open(struct i40e_vsi *vsi)
+{
+	struct i40e_pf *pf = vsi->back;
+	char int_name[IFNAMSIZ];
+	int err;
+
 	/* allocate descriptors */
 	err = i40e_vsi_setup_tx_resources(vsi);
 	if (err)
@@ -4256,18 +4280,22 @@
 	if (err)
 		goto err_setup_rx;
 
+	if (!vsi->netdev) {
+		err = EINVAL;
+		goto err_setup_rx;
+	}
 	snprintf(int_name, sizeof(int_name) - 1, "%s-%s",
-		 dev_driver_string(&pf->pdev->dev), netdev->name);
+		 dev_driver_string(&pf->pdev->dev), vsi->netdev->name);
 	err = i40e_vsi_request_irq(vsi, int_name);
 	if (err)
 		goto err_setup_rx;
 
 	/* Notify the stack of the actual queue counts. */
-	err = netif_set_real_num_tx_queues(netdev, vsi->num_queue_pairs);
+	err = netif_set_real_num_tx_queues(vsi->netdev, vsi->num_queue_pairs);
 	if (err)
 		goto err_set_queues;
 
-	err = netif_set_real_num_rx_queues(netdev, vsi->num_queue_pairs);
+	err = netif_set_real_num_rx_queues(vsi->netdev, vsi->num_queue_pairs);
 	if (err)
 		goto err_set_queues;
 
@@ -4275,10 +4303,6 @@
 	if (err)
 		goto err_up_complete;
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_I40E_VXLAN
-	vxlan_get_rx_port(netdev);
-#endif
-
 	return 0;
 
 err_up_complete: