diff --git a/drivers/net/vxge/vxge-main.c b/drivers/net/vxge/vxge-main.c
index 3ec80684cd5f..b771e4b2ca9e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/vxge/vxge-main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/vxge/vxge-main.c
@@ -3439,11 +3439,11 @@ static void vxge_device_unregister(struct __vxge_hw_device *hldev)
 
 	strncpy(buf, dev->name, IFNAMSIZ);
 
+	flush_scheduled_work();
+
 	/* in 2.6 will call stop() if device is up */
 	unregister_netdev(dev);
 
-	flush_scheduled_work();
-
 	vxge_debug_init(vdev->level_trace, "%s: ethernet device unregistered",
 			buf);
 	vxge_debug_entryexit(vdev->level_trace,	"%s: %s:%d  Exiting...", buf,