diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mediatek/mtk_eth_soc.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mediatek/mtk_eth_soc.c
index 2ea5dfe85539..ad0fdc4133fb 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mediatek/mtk_eth_soc.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mediatek/mtk_eth_soc.c
@@ -5341,6 +5341,22 @@ static int mtk_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* we run 2 devices on the same DMA ring so we need a dummy device
+	 * for NAPI to work. Allocate it before registering the netdevs so a
+	 * concurrent ndo_open (e.g. netifd bringing the first netdev up the
+	 * instant it is registered) never observes eth->dummy_dev == NULL in
+	 * mtk_dma_init() -> mtk_rx_alloc() -> __xdp_rxq_info_reg() (net/core/xdp.c
+	 * "Missing net_device from driver") and fails the first open.
+	 */
+	eth->dummy_dev = alloc_netdev_dummy(0);
+	if (!eth->dummy_dev) {
+		err = -ENOMEM;
+		dev_err(eth->dev, "failed to allocated dummy device\n");
+		goto err_unreg_netdev;
+	}
+	netif_napi_add(eth->dummy_dev, &eth->tx_napi, mtk_napi_tx);
+	netif_napi_add(eth->dummy_dev, &eth->rx_napi, mtk_napi_rx);
+
 	for (i = 0; i < MTK_MAX_DEVS; i++) {
 		if (!eth->netdev[i])
 			continue;
@@ -5355,18 +5371,6 @@ static int mtk_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 				   eth->netdev[i]->base_addr, eth->irq[MTK_FE_IRQ_SHARED]);
 	}
 
-	/* we run 2 devices on the same DMA ring so we need a dummy device
-	 * for NAPI to work
-	 */
-	eth->dummy_dev = alloc_netdev_dummy(0);
-	if (!eth->dummy_dev) {
-		err = -ENOMEM;
-		dev_err(eth->dev, "failed to allocated dummy device\n");
-		goto err_unreg_netdev;
-	}
-	netif_napi_add(eth->dummy_dev, &eth->tx_napi, mtk_napi_tx);
-	netif_napi_add(eth->dummy_dev, &eth->rx_napi, mtk_napi_rx);
-
 	platform_set_drvdata(pdev, eth);
 	schedule_delayed_work(&eth->reset.monitor_work,
 			      MTK_DMA_MONITOR_TIMEOUT);
@@ -5376,6 +5380,16 @@ static int mtk_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 err_unreg_netdev:
 	mtk_unreg_dev(eth);
 err_deinit_ppe:
+	/* A netdev opened while probe was still registering can have queued
+	 * the frame-engine reset worker, which takes rtnl and drives the
+	 * hardware; cancel it before anything below is torn down.
+	 */
+	cancel_work_sync(&eth->pending_work);
+	if (eth->dummy_dev) {
+		netif_napi_del(&eth->tx_napi);
+		netif_napi_del(&eth->rx_napi);
+		free_netdev(eth->dummy_dev);
+	}
 	mtk_ppe_deinit(eth);
 	mtk_mdio_cleanup(eth);
 err_free_dev: