diff --git a/drivers/net/e1000/e1000.h b/drivers/net/e1000/e1000.h
index f411bbb44f86..d304297c496c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/e1000/e1000.h
+++ b/drivers/net/e1000/e1000.h
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ struct e1000_adapter;
 #define E1000_MIN_RXD                       80
 #define E1000_MAX_82544_RXD               4096
 
+/* this is the size past which hardware will drop packets when setting LPE=0 */
+#define MAXIMUM_ETHERNET_VLAN_SIZE 1522
+
 /* Supported Rx Buffer Sizes */
 #define E1000_RXBUFFER_128   128    /* Used for packet split */
 #define E1000_RXBUFFER_256   256    /* Used for packet split */
diff --git a/drivers/net/e1000/e1000_main.c b/drivers/net/e1000/e1000_main.c
index 0074a3a506a5..154acb2cde91 100644
--- a/drivers/net/e1000/e1000_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/e1000/e1000_main.c
@@ -1068,7 +1068,7 @@ e1000_sw_init(struct e1000_adapter *adapter)
 
 	pci_read_config_word(pdev, PCI_COMMAND, &hw->pci_cmd_word);
 
-	adapter->rx_buffer_len = MAXIMUM_ETHERNET_FRAME_SIZE;
+	adapter->rx_buffer_len = MAXIMUM_ETHERNET_VLAN_SIZE;
 	adapter->rx_ps_bsize0 = E1000_RXBUFFER_128;
 	hw->max_frame_size = netdev->mtu +
 			     ENET_HEADER_SIZE + ETHERNET_FCS_SIZE;
@@ -3148,7 +3148,6 @@ e1000_change_mtu(struct net_device *netdev, int new_mtu)
 		adapter->rx_buffer_len = E1000_RXBUFFER_16384;
 
 	/* adjust allocation if LPE protects us, and we aren't using SBP */
-#define MAXIMUM_ETHERNET_VLAN_SIZE 1522
 	if (!adapter->hw.tbi_compatibility_on &&
 	    ((max_frame == MAXIMUM_ETHERNET_FRAME_SIZE) ||
 	     (max_frame == MAXIMUM_ETHERNET_VLAN_SIZE)))