diff --git a/hw/e1000.c b/hw/e1000.c
index 63fee10..1e66ecf 100644
--- a/hw/e1000.c
+++ b/hw/e1000.c
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ typedef struct E1000State_st {
     uint32_t rxbuf_size;
     uint32_t rxbuf_min_shift;
     int check_rxov;
+    uint32_t rx_init_done;
     struct e1000_tx {
         unsigned char header[256];
         unsigned char vlan_header[4];
@@ -267,6 +268,7 @@ static void e1000_reset(void *opaque)
 {
     E1000State *d = opaque;
 
+    d->check_rxov = 1;
     qemu_del_timer(d->autoneg_timer);
     memset(d->phy_reg, 0, sizeof d->phy_reg);
     memmove(d->phy_reg, phy_reg_init, sizeof phy_reg_init);
@@ -291,6 +293,12 @@ static void
 set_rx_control(E1000State *s, int index, uint32_t val)
 {
     s->mac_reg[RCTL] = val;
+
+    if (!(s->mac_reg[RCTL] & E1000_RCTL_EN)) {
+        s->rx_init_done = 0;
+        s->check_rxov = 1;
+    }
+
     s->rxbuf_size = rxbufsize(val);
     s->rxbuf_min_shift = ((val / E1000_RCTL_RDMTS_QUAT) & 3) + 1;
     DBGOUT(RX, "RCTL: %d, mac_reg[RCTL] = 0x%x\n", s->mac_reg[RDT],
@@ -925,8 +933,18 @@ mac_writereg(E1000State *s, int index, uint32_t val)
 static void
 set_rdt(E1000State *s, int index, uint32_t val)
 {
-    s->check_rxov = 0;
     s->mac_reg[index] = val & 0xffff;
+
+    if (s->mac_reg[index] || s->rx_init_done) {
+        s->check_rxov = 0;
+        /* This is a fix for RX initialization race
+        *  present in e1000 driver on some kernels.
+        *  We consider RX enabled only after we've seen
+        *  at least one RX descriptor filled by guest.
+        */
+        s->rx_init_done = 1;
+    }
+
     if (e1000_has_rxbufs(s, 1)) {
         qemu_flush_queued_packets(&s->nic->nc);
     }
@@ -1102,6 +1120,7 @@ static const VMStateDescription vmstate_e1000 = {
         VMSTATE_UNUSED(4), /* Was mmio_base.  */
         VMSTATE_UINT32(rxbuf_size, E1000State),
         VMSTATE_UINT32(rxbuf_min_shift, E1000State),
+        VMSTATE_UINT32(rx_init_done, E1000State),
         VMSTATE_UINT32(eecd_state.val_in, E1000State),
         VMSTATE_UINT16(eecd_state.bitnum_in, E1000State),
         VMSTATE_UINT16(eecd_state.bitnum_out, E1000State),
@@ -1269,6 +1288,7 @@ static int pci_e1000_init(PCIDevice *pci_dev)
     add_boot_device_path(d->conf.bootindex, &pci_dev->qdev, "/ethernet-phy@0");
 
     d->autoneg_timer = qemu_new_timer_ms(vm_clock, e1000_autoneg_timer, d);
+    d->check_rxov = 1;
 
     return 0;
 }