diff --git a/sys/dev/ena/ena.c b/sys/dev/ena/ena.c
index a62b99d5ee1..8429dcd3390 100644
--- a/sys/dev/ena/ena.c
+++ b/sys/dev/ena/ena.c
@@ -3291,7 +3291,8 @@ ena_destroy_device(struct ena_adapter *adapter, bool graceful)
 	if (!ENA_FLAG_ISSET(ENA_FLAG_DEVICE_RUNNING, adapter))
 		return;
 
-	if_link_state_change(ifp, LINK_STATE_DOWN);
+	if (!graceful)
+		if_link_state_change(ifp, LINK_STATE_DOWN);
 
 	ENA_TIMER_DRAIN(adapter);