diff --git a/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/mal.c b/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/mal.c
index 39f4cb6..a680eb0 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/mal.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/mal.c
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@
 		return -EBUSY;
 	}
 
+	if (list_empty(&mal->list))
+		napi_enable(&mal->napi);
 	mal->tx_chan_mask |= commac->tx_chan_mask;
 	mal->rx_chan_mask |= commac->rx_chan_mask;
 	list_add(&commac->list, &mal->list);
@@ -67,6 +69,8 @@
 	mal->tx_chan_mask &= ~commac->tx_chan_mask;
 	mal->rx_chan_mask &= ~commac->rx_chan_mask;
 	list_del_init(&commac->list);
+	if (list_empty(&mal->list))
+		napi_disable(&mal->napi);
 
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&mal->lock, flags);
 }
@@ -182,7 +186,7 @@
 	set_mal_dcrn(mal, MAL_CFG, get_mal_dcrn(mal, MAL_CFG) | MAL_CFG_EOPIE);
 }
 
-/* synchronized by __LINK_STATE_RX_SCHED bit in ndev->state */
+/* synchronized by NAPI state */
 static inline void mal_disable_eob_irq(struct mal_instance *mal)
 {
 	// XXX might want to cache MAL_CFG as the DCR read can be slooooow
@@ -317,8 +321,8 @@
 	while (test_and_set_bit(MAL_COMMAC_POLL_DISABLED, &commac->flags))
 		msleep(1);
 
-	/* Synchronize with the MAL NAPI poller. */
-	napi_disable(&mal->napi);
+	/* Synchronize with the MAL NAPI poller */
+	__napi_synchronize(&mal->napi);
 }
 
 void mal_poll_enable(struct mal_instance *mal, struct mal_commac *commac)
@@ -326,7 +330,12 @@
 	smp_wmb();
 	clear_bit(MAL_COMMAC_POLL_DISABLED, &commac->flags);
 
-	// XXX might want to kick a poll now...
+	/* Feels better to trigger a poll here to catch up with events that
+	 * may have happened on this channel while disabled. It will most
+	 * probably be delayed until the next interrupt but that's mostly a
+	 * non-issue in the context where this is called.
+	 */
+	napi_schedule(&mal->napi);
 }
 
 static int mal_poll(struct napi_struct *napi, int budget)
@@ -336,8 +345,7 @@
 	int received = 0;
 	unsigned long flags;
 
-	MAL_DBG2(mal, "poll(%d) %d ->" NL, *budget,
-		 rx_work_limit);
+	MAL_DBG2(mal, "poll(%d)" NL, budget);
  again:
 	/* Process TX skbs */
 	list_for_each(l, &mal->poll_list) {
@@ -528,11 +536,12 @@
 	}
 
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&mal->poll_list);
-	mal->napi.weight = CONFIG_IBM_NEW_EMAC_POLL_WEIGHT;
-	mal->napi.poll = mal_poll;
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&mal->list);
 	spin_lock_init(&mal->lock);
 
+	netif_napi_add(NULL, &mal->napi, mal_poll,
+		       CONFIG_IBM_NEW_EMAC_POLL_WEIGHT);
+
 	/* Load power-on reset defaults */
 	mal_reset(mal);