diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/health.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/health.c
index 42d16b9458e4..96a59463ae65 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/health.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/health.c
@@ -108,15 +108,21 @@ static int in_fatal(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev)
 
 void mlx5_enter_error_state(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev)
 {
+	mutex_lock(&dev->intf_state_mutex);
 	if (dev->state == MLX5_DEVICE_STATE_INTERNAL_ERROR)
-		return;
+		goto unlock;
 
 	mlx5_core_err(dev, "start\n");
-	if (pci_channel_offline(dev->pdev) || in_fatal(dev))
+	if (pci_channel_offline(dev->pdev) || in_fatal(dev)) {
 		dev->state = MLX5_DEVICE_STATE_INTERNAL_ERROR;
+		trigger_cmd_completions(dev);
+	}
 
 	mlx5_core_event(dev, MLX5_DEV_EVENT_SYS_ERROR, 0);
 	mlx5_core_err(dev, "end\n");
+
+unlock:
+	mutex_unlock(&dev->intf_state_mutex);
 }
 
 static void mlx5_handle_bad_state(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev)
@@ -245,7 +251,6 @@ static void poll_health(unsigned long data)
 	u32 count;
 
 	if (dev->state == MLX5_DEVICE_STATE_INTERNAL_ERROR) {
-		trigger_cmd_completions(dev);
 		mod_timer(&health->timer, get_next_poll_jiffies());
 		return;
 	}