diff --git a/drivers/net/macvtap.c b/drivers/net/macvtap.c
index 3da557830937dee2c7edeea3326ee88c6b7e158b..70aa628834f03e7d9ee7b4f2ac629333a6627169 100644
--- a/drivers/net/macvtap.c
+++ b/drivers/net/macvtap.c
@@ -231,6 +231,8 @@ static void macvtap_del_queues(struct net_device *dev)
 		}
 	}
 	BUG_ON(vlan->numvtaps != 0);
+	/* guarantee that any future macvtap_set_queue will fail */
+	vlan->numvtaps = MAX_MACVTAP_QUEUES;
 	spin_unlock(&macvtap_lock);
 
 	synchronize_rcu();