diff --git a/drivers/net/usb/ipheth.c b/drivers/net/usb/ipheth.c
index bb1364f85bd1..2b490114d232 100644
--- a/drivers/net/usb/ipheth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/usb/ipheth.c
@@ -490,6 +490,7 @@ static int ipheth_open(struct net_device *net)
 	if (retval)
 		return retval;
 
+	enable_delayed_work(&dev->carrier_work);
 	schedule_delayed_work(&dev->carrier_work, IPHETH_CARRIER_CHECK_TIMEOUT);
 	return retval;
 }
@@ -499,7 +500,11 @@ static int ipheth_close(struct net_device *net)
 	struct ipheth_device *dev = netdev_priv(net);
 
 	netif_stop_queue(net);
-	cancel_delayed_work_sync(&dev->carrier_work);
+	/* A TX URB can still complete with an error after this point and
+	 * try to re-arm the carrier work. Disable it instead of cancelling
+	 * it, so that such a schedule_delayed_work() is a no-op.
+	 */
+	disable_delayed_work_sync(&dev->carrier_work);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -629,6 +634,10 @@ static int ipheth_probe(struct usb_interface *intf,
 	}
 
 	INIT_DELAYED_WORK(&dev->carrier_work, ipheth_carrier_check_work);
+	/* Armed only between ipheth_open() and ipheth_close(). Start out
+	 * disabled so the enable/disable counts balance from the first open.
+	 */
+	disable_delayed_work(&dev->carrier_work);
 
 	retval = ipheth_alloc_urbs(dev);
 	if (retval) {