diff --git a/drivers/net/e1000e/ich8lan.c b/drivers/net/e1000e/ich8lan.c
index 0bfef8e16a7bf859587ea59c98662791d7bd47c0..b8c4dce01a04ece9a4205d4f011823660bf65008 100644
--- a/drivers/net/e1000e/ich8lan.c
+++ b/drivers/net/e1000e/ich8lan.c
@@ -294,6 +294,16 @@ static s32 e1000_init_phy_params_pchlan(struct e1000_hw *hw)
 		msleep(50);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Reset the PHY before any acccess to it.  Doing so, ensures that
+	 * the PHY is in a known good state before we read/write PHY registers.
+	 * The generic reset is sufficient here, because we haven't determined
+	 * the PHY type yet.
+	 */
+	ret_val = e1000e_phy_hw_reset_generic(hw);
+	if (ret_val)
+		goto out;
+
 	phy->id = e1000_phy_unknown;
 	ret_val = e1000e_get_phy_id(hw);
 	if (ret_val)