diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
index 2fdb8895aecd7..5ca9bc337dc6a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
@@ -769,6 +769,7 @@ static int mlx5e_rep_max_nch_limit(struct mlx5_core_dev *mdev)
 
 static void mlx5e_build_rep_params(struct net_device *netdev)
 {
+	const bool take_rtnl = netdev->reg_state == NETREG_REGISTERED;
 	struct mlx5e_priv *priv = netdev_priv(netdev);
 	struct mlx5e_rep_priv *rpriv = priv->ppriv;
 	struct mlx5_eswitch_rep *rep = rpriv->rep;
@@ -794,8 +795,15 @@ static void mlx5e_build_rep_params(struct net_device *netdev)
 	/* RQ */
 	mlx5e_build_rq_params(mdev, params);
 
+	/* If netdev is already registered (e.g. move from nic profile to uplink,
+	 * RTNL lock must be held before triggering netdev notifiers.
+	 */
+	if (take_rtnl)
+		rtnl_lock();
 	/* update XDP supported features */
 	mlx5e_set_xdp_feature(netdev);
+	if (take_rtnl)
+		rtnl_unlock();
 
 	/* CQ moderation params */
 	params->rx_dim_enabled = MLX5_CAP_GEN(mdev, cq_moderation);