diff --git a/drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c b/drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c
index 55a78eb96961..aff105f5f58c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c
@@ -2082,10 +2082,6 @@ static int lan78xx_phy_init(struct lan78xx_net *dev)
 
 	dev->fc_autoneg = phydev->autoneg;
 
-	phy_start(phydev);
-
-	netif_dbg(dev, ifup, dev->net, "phy initialised successfully");
-
 	return 0;
 
 error:
@@ -2522,9 +2518,9 @@ static int lan78xx_open(struct net_device *net)
 	if (ret < 0)
 		goto done;
 
-	ret = lan78xx_phy_init(dev);
-	if (ret < 0)
-		goto done;
+	phy_start(net->phydev);
+
+	netif_dbg(dev, ifup, dev->net, "phy initialised successfully");
 
 	/* for Link Check */
 	if (dev->urb_intr) {
@@ -2585,13 +2581,8 @@ static int lan78xx_stop(struct net_device *net)
 	if (timer_pending(&dev->stat_monitor))
 		del_timer_sync(&dev->stat_monitor);
 
-	phy_unregister_fixup_for_uid(PHY_KSZ9031RNX, 0xfffffff0);
-	phy_unregister_fixup_for_uid(PHY_LAN8835, 0xfffffff0);
-
-	phy_stop(net->phydev);
-	phy_disconnect(net->phydev);
-
-	net->phydev = NULL;
+	if (net->phydev)
+		phy_stop(net->phydev);
 
 	clear_bit(EVENT_DEV_OPEN, &dev->flags);
 	netif_stop_queue(net);
@@ -3506,8 +3497,13 @@ static void lan78xx_disconnect(struct usb_interface *intf)
 		return;
 
 	udev = interface_to_usbdev(intf);
-
 	net = dev->net;
+
+	phy_unregister_fixup_for_uid(PHY_KSZ9031RNX, 0xfffffff0);
+	phy_unregister_fixup_for_uid(PHY_LAN8835, 0xfffffff0);
+
+	phy_disconnect(net->phydev);
+
 	unregister_netdev(net);
 
 	cancel_delayed_work_sync(&dev->wq);
@@ -3663,8 +3659,14 @@ static int lan78xx_probe(struct usb_interface *intf,
 	pm_runtime_set_autosuspend_delay(&udev->dev,
 					 DEFAULT_AUTOSUSPEND_DELAY);
 
+	ret = lan78xx_phy_init(dev);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		goto out4;
+
 	return 0;
 
+out4:
+	unregister_netdev(netdev);
 out3:
 	lan78xx_unbind(dev, intf);
 out2:
@@ -4012,7 +4014,7 @@ static int lan78xx_reset_resume(struct usb_interface *intf)
 
 	lan78xx_reset(dev);
 
-	lan78xx_phy_init(dev);
+	phy_start(dev->net->phydev);
 
 	return lan78xx_resume(intf);
 }