diff --git a/include/net/mac80211.h b/include/net/mac80211.h
index c21a0e27b35e..445b66c6eb7e 100644
--- a/include/net/mac80211.h
+++ b/include/net/mac80211.h
@@ -1768,10 +1768,7 @@ struct ieee80211_vif *wdev_to_ieee80211_vif(struct wireless_dev *wdev);
  *
  * This can be used by mac80211 drivers with direct cfg80211 APIs
  * (like the vendor commands) that needs to get the wdev for a vif.
- *
- * Note that this function may return %NULL if the given wdev isn't
- * associated with a vif that the driver knows about (e.g. monitor
- * or AP_VLAN interfaces.)
+ * This can also be useful to get the netdev associated to a vif.
  */
 struct wireless_dev *ieee80211_vif_to_wdev(struct ieee80211_vif *vif);
 
diff --git a/net/mac80211/util.c b/net/mac80211/util.c
index c0fa526a45b4..0a0481f5af48 100644
--- a/net/mac80211/util.c
+++ b/net/mac80211/util.c
@@ -888,18 +888,10 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(wdev_to_ieee80211_vif);
 
 struct wireless_dev *ieee80211_vif_to_wdev(struct ieee80211_vif *vif)
 {
-	struct ieee80211_sub_if_data *sdata;
-
 	if (!vif)
 		return NULL;
 
-	sdata = vif_to_sdata(vif);
-
-	if (!ieee80211_sdata_running(sdata) ||
-	    !(sdata->flags & IEEE80211_SDATA_IN_DRIVER))
-		return NULL;
-
-	return &sdata->wdev;
+	return &vif_to_sdata(vif)->wdev;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(ieee80211_vif_to_wdev);