diff --git a/drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c b/drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c
index 6508e0b2ea72..3eebfe287533 100644
--- a/drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c
@@ -1280,8 +1280,9 @@ int bond_enslave(struct net_device *bond_dev, struct net_device *slave_dev)
 
 	/* bond must be initialized by bond_open() before enslaving */
 	if (!(bond_dev->flags & IFF_UP)) {
-		dprintk("Error, master_dev is not up\n");
-		return -EPERM;
+		printk(KERN_WARNING DRV_NAME
+			" %s: master_dev is not up in bond_enslave\n",
+			bond_dev->name);
 	}
 
 	/* already enslaved */
diff --git a/drivers/net/bonding/bond_sysfs.c b/drivers/net/bonding/bond_sysfs.c
index 6f49ca7e9b66..ca4e429f9ec2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/bonding/bond_sysfs.c
+++ b/drivers/net/bonding/bond_sysfs.c
@@ -266,11 +266,9 @@ static ssize_t bonding_store_slaves(struct device *d,
 
 	/* Quick sanity check -- is the bond interface up? */
 	if (!(bond->dev->flags & IFF_UP)) {
-		printk(KERN_ERR DRV_NAME
-		       ": %s: Unable to update slaves because interface is down.\n",
+		printk(KERN_WARNING DRV_NAME
+		       ": %s: doing slave updates when interface is down.\n",
 		       bond->dev->name);
-		ret = -EPERM;
-		goto out;
 	}
 
 	/* Note:  We can't hold bond->lock here, as bond_create grabs it. */