diff --git a/drivers/net/hyperv/netvsc_drv.c b/drivers/net/hyperv/netvsc_drv.c
index 14451e14d99d..10c3480c2da8 100644
--- a/drivers/net/hyperv/netvsc_drv.c
+++ b/drivers/net/hyperv/netvsc_drv.c
@@ -532,12 +532,13 @@ static int netvsc_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *net)
 	u32 hash;
 	struct hv_page_buffer pb[MAX_PAGE_BUFFER_COUNT];
 
-	/* if VF is present and up then redirect packets
-	 * already called with rcu_read_lock_bh
+	/* If VF is present and up then redirect packets to it.
+	 * Skip the VF if it is marked down or has no carrier.
+	 * If netpoll is in uses, then VF can not be used either.
 	 */
 	vf_netdev = rcu_dereference_bh(net_device_ctx->vf_netdev);
 	if (vf_netdev && netif_running(vf_netdev) &&
-	    !netpoll_tx_running(net))
+	    netif_carrier_ok(vf_netdev) && !netpoll_tx_running(net))
 		return netvsc_vf_xmit(net, vf_netdev, skb);
 
 	/* We will atmost need two pages to describe the rndis