diff --git a/drivers/net/sgiseeq.c b/drivers/net/sgiseeq.c
index ed999d31f1f..37f6a00cde1 100644
--- a/drivers/net/sgiseeq.c
+++ b/drivers/net/sgiseeq.c
@@ -592,8 +592,10 @@ static int sgiseeq_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	/* Setup... */
 	len = skb->len;
 	if (len < ETH_ZLEN) {
-		if (skb_padto(skb, ETH_ZLEN))
+		if (skb_padto(skb, ETH_ZLEN)) {
+			spin_unlock_irqrestore(&sp->tx_lock, flags);
 			return NETDEV_TX_OK;
+		}
 		len = ETH_ZLEN;
 	}