diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c
index 7cc22916852f..8199738ba979 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c
@@ -984,7 +984,8 @@ const struct ethtool_ops gve_ethtool_ops = {
 	.supported_ring_params = ETHTOOL_RING_USE_TCP_DATA_SPLIT |
 				 ETHTOOL_RING_USE_RX_BUF_LEN,
 	.op_needs_rtnl = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
-			 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
+			 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
+			 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.get_drvinfo = gve_get_drvinfo,
 	.get_strings = gve_get_strings,
 	.get_sset_count = gve_get_sset_count,
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c
index a615d599b88e..e7cf12eaa268 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c
@@ -1855,6 +1855,7 @@ static const struct ethtool_ops iavf_ethtool_ops = {
 	.supported_coalesce_params = ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USECS |
 				     ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE,
 	.supported_input_xfrm	= RXH_XFRM_SYM_XOR,
+	.op_needs_rtnl		= ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.get_drvinfo		= iavf_get_drvinfo,
 	.get_link		= ethtool_op_get_link,
 	.get_ringparam		= iavf_get_ringparam,
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
index 2f5b626ba33f..112926d07634 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
@@ -2721,7 +2721,8 @@ const struct ethtool_ops mlx5e_ethtool_ops = {
 	.rxfh_max_num_contexts	= MLX5E_MAX_NUM_RSS,
 	.op_needs_rtnl		= ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
 				  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
-				  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPFLAGS,
+				  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPFLAGS |
+				  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.supported_coalesce_params = ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USECS |
 				     ETHTOOL_COALESCE_MAX_FRAMES |
 				     ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE |
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
index 1a8a19f980d3..c8b76d301c92 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
@@ -419,7 +419,8 @@ static const struct ethtool_ops mlx5e_rep_ethtool_ops = {
 				     ETHTOOL_COALESCE_MAX_FRAMES |
 				     ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE,
 	.op_needs_rtnl	   = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
-			     ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
+			     ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
+			     ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.get_drvinfo	   = mlx5e_rep_get_drvinfo,
 	.get_link	   = ethtool_op_get_link,
 	.get_strings       = mlx5e_rep_get_strings,
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c
index 9b3b32408c64..01ddc3def9ac 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c
@@ -286,7 +286,8 @@ const struct ethtool_ops mlx5i_ethtool_ops = {
 				     ETHTOOL_COALESCE_MAX_FRAMES |
 				     ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE,
 	.op_needs_rtnl	    = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
-			      ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
+			      ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
+			      ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.get_drvinfo        = mlx5i_get_drvinfo,
 	.get_strings        = mlx5i_get_strings,
 	.get_sset_count     = mlx5i_get_sset_count,
@@ -309,6 +310,7 @@ const struct ethtool_ops mlx5i_ethtool_ops = {
 };
 
 const struct ethtool_ops mlx5i_pkey_ethtool_ops = {
+	.op_needs_rtnl	    = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.get_drvinfo        = mlx5i_get_drvinfo,
 	.get_link           = ethtool_op_get_link,
 	.get_ts_info        = mlx5i_get_ts_info,
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c
index cb34fc166ef9..0e47088ec44b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c
@@ -2024,7 +2024,8 @@ static const struct ethtool_ops fbnic_ethtool_ops = {
 					  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GPAUSEPARAM |
 					  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPAUSEPARAM |
 					  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
-					  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
+					  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
+					  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.get_drvinfo			= fbnic_get_drvinfo,
 	.get_regs_len			= fbnic_get_regs_len,
 	.get_regs			= fbnic_get_regs,
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c
index 94e658d07a27..881df597d7f9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c
@@ -597,7 +597,8 @@ static int mana_get_link_ksettings(struct net_device *ndev,
 const struct ethtool_ops mana_ethtool_ops = {
 	.supported_coalesce_params = ETHTOOL_COALESCE_RX_CQE_FRAMES,
 	.op_needs_rtnl		= ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
-				  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
+				  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
+				  ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
 	.get_ethtool_stats	= mana_get_ethtool_stats,
 	.get_sset_count		= mana_get_sset_count,
 	.get_strings		= mana_get_strings,
diff --git a/include/linux/ethtool.h b/include/linux/ethtool.h
index 1b834e2a522e..5d491a98265e 100644
--- a/include/linux/ethtool.h
+++ b/include/linux/ethtool.h
@@ -942,6 +942,7 @@ struct kernel_ethtool_ts_info {
 #define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GPAUSEPARAM	BIT(5)
 #define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPAUSEPARAM	BIT(6)
 #define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_RSS		BIT(7)
+#define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK		BIT(8)
 
 /**
  * struct ethtool_ops - optional netdev operations
@@ -978,6 +979,7 @@ struct kernel_ethtool_ts_info {
  *	 - phylink helpers (note that phydev is currently unsupported!)
  *	 - netdev_update_features()
  *	 - netif_set_real_num_tx_queues()
+ *	 - ethtool_op_get_link() (syncs link watch under rtnl_lock)
  *
  * @get_drvinfo: Report driver/device information. Modern drivers no
  *	longer have to implement this callback. Most fields are
diff --git a/net/ethtool/common.h b/net/ethtool/common.h
index 2b3847f00801..4e5356e26f40 100644
--- a/net/ethtool/common.h
+++ b/net/ethtool/common.h
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ ethtool_nl_msg_needs_rtnl(const struct net_device *dev, u8 cmd)
 		return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPAUSEPARAM;
 	case ETHTOOL_MSG_RSS_SET:
 		return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_RSS;
+	case ETHTOOL_MSG_LINKSTATE_GET:
+		return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK;
 	case ETHTOOL_MSG_TSCONFIG_GET:
 	case ETHTOOL_MSG_TSCONFIG_SET:
 		/* tsconfig calls ndos (ndo_hwtstamp_set/get), not ethtool ops.
@@ -159,6 +161,8 @@ ethtool_ioctl_needs_rtnl(const struct net_device *dev, u32 ethcmd)
 	case ETHTOOL_SRXFH:
 	case ETHTOOL_SRXFHINDIR:
 		return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_RSS;
+	case ETHTOOL_GLINK:
+		return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK;
 	}
 	return false;
 }