diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netfront.c b/drivers/net/xen-netfront.c
index 0cfe4ccf92d21b12eb78e59ff3329fdf6d69abed..db9a763aaa7fd0cbce405c681bd6ad9ac910c558 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netfront.c
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netfront.c
@@ -1251,6 +1251,14 @@ static struct net_device * __devinit xennet_create_dev(struct xenbus_device *dev
 				  NETIF_F_GSO_ROBUST;
 	netdev->hw_features	= NETIF_F_IP_CSUM | NETIF_F_SG | NETIF_F_TSO;
 
+	/*
+         * Assume that all hw features are available for now. This set
+         * will be adjusted by the call to netdev_update_features() in
+         * xennet_connect() which is the earliest point where we can
+         * negotiate with the backend regarding supported features.
+         */
+	netdev->features |= netdev->hw_features;
+
 	SET_ETHTOOL_OPS(netdev, &xennet_ethtool_ops);
 	SET_NETDEV_DEV(netdev, &dev->dev);