diff --git a/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c b/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c
index 52e0ae4dc724..e9102359e313 100644
--- a/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c
+++ b/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l3_main.c
@@ -285,9 +285,10 @@ static void qeth_l3_clear_ip_htable(struct qeth_card *card, int recover)
 		if (!recover) {
 			hash_del(&addr->hnode);
 			kfree(addr);
-			continue;
+		} else {
+			/* prepare for recovery */
+			addr->disp_flag = QETH_DISP_ADDR_ADD;
 		}
-		addr->disp_flag = QETH_DISP_ADDR_ADD;
 	}
 
 	spin_unlock_bh(&card->ip_lock);
@@ -325,11 +326,13 @@ static void qeth_l3_recover_ip(struct qeth_card *card)
 			} else
 				rc = qeth_l3_register_addr_entry(card, addr);
 
-			if (!rc) {
+			if (!rc || rc == -EADDRINUSE || rc == -ENETDOWN) {
+				/* keep it in the records */
 				addr->disp_flag = QETH_DISP_ADDR_DO_NOTHING;
 				if (addr->ref_counter < 1)
 					qeth_l3_delete_ip(card, addr);
 			} else {
+				/* bad address */
 				hash_del(&addr->hnode);
 				kfree(addr);
 			}