diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/phylink.c b/drivers/net/phy/phylink.c
index a4dd5197355a..093b7b6e0263 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/phylink.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/phylink.c
@@ -712,14 +712,11 @@ static int phylink_validate(struct phylink *pl, unsigned long *supported,
 {
 	const unsigned long *interfaces = pl->config->supported_interfaces;
 
-	if (!phy_interface_empty(interfaces)) {
-		if (state->interface == PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_NA)
-			return phylink_validate_mask(pl, supported, state,
-						     interfaces);
+	if (state->interface == PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_NA)
+		return phylink_validate_mask(pl, supported, state, interfaces);
 
-		if (!test_bit(state->interface, interfaces))
-			return -EINVAL;
-	}
+	if (!test_bit(state->interface, interfaces))
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	return phylink_validate_mac_and_pcs(pl, supported, state);
 }
@@ -1513,19 +1510,18 @@ struct phylink *phylink_create(struct phylink_config *config,
 	struct phylink *pl;
 	int ret;
 
+	/* Validate the supplied configuration */
+	if (phy_interface_empty(config->supported_interfaces)) {
+		dev_err(config->dev,
+			"phylink: error: empty supported_interfaces\n");
+		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
+	}
+
 	if (mac_ops->mac_select_pcs &&
 	    mac_ops->mac_select_pcs(config, PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_NA) !=
 	      ERR_PTR(-EOPNOTSUPP))
 		using_mac_select_pcs = true;
 
-	/* Validate the supplied configuration */
-	if (using_mac_select_pcs &&
-	    phy_interface_empty(config->supported_interfaces)) {
-		dev_err(config->dev,
-			"phylink: error: empty supported_interfaces but mac_select_pcs() method present\n");
-		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
-	}
-
 	pl = kzalloc(sizeof(*pl), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!pl)
 		return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);