diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mld/tx.c b/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mld/tx.c
index 094a28f75559..0bcb1ae69468 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mld/tx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mld/tx.c
@@ -973,6 +973,16 @@ void iwl_mld_tx_from_txq(struct iwl_mld *mld, struct ieee80211_txq *txq)
 	struct sk_buff *skb = NULL;
 	u8 zero_addr[ETH_ALEN] = {};
 
+	/*
+	 * Don't transmit during firmware restart. The firmware is dead,
+	 * so iwl_trans_tx() would return -EIO for each frame. Avoid the
+	 * overhead of dequeuing from mac80211 only to immediately free
+	 * the skbs, and the potential memory pressure from rapid skb
+	 * allocation churn during high-throughput restart scenarios.
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(mld->fw_status.in_hw_restart))
+		return;
+
 	/*
 	 * No need for threads to be pending here, they can leave the first
 	 * taker all the work.