diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_common.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_common.c
index 7a70abcafbbb..2839ea53234d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_common.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_common.c
@@ -2235,27 +2235,28 @@ i40e_status i40e_aq_send_driver_version(struct i40e_hw *hw,
 /**
  * i40e_get_link_status - get status of the HW network link
  * @hw: pointer to the hw struct
+ * @link_up: pointer to bool (true/false = linkup/linkdown)
  *
- * Returns true if link is up, false if link is down.
+ * Variable link_up true if link is up, false if link is down.
+ * The variable link_up is invalid if returned value of status != 0
  *
  * Side effect: LinkStatusEvent reporting becomes enabled
  **/
-bool i40e_get_link_status(struct i40e_hw *hw)
+i40e_status i40e_get_link_status(struct i40e_hw *hw, bool *link_up)
 {
 	i40e_status status = 0;
-	bool link_status = false;
 
 	if (hw->phy.get_link_info) {
 		status = i40e_aq_get_link_info(hw, true, NULL, NULL);
 
 		if (status)
-			goto i40e_get_link_status_exit;
+			i40e_debug(hw, I40E_DEBUG_LINK, "get link failed: status %d\n",
+				   status);
 	}
 
-	link_status = hw->phy.link_info.link_info & I40E_AQ_LINK_UP;
+	*link_up = hw->phy.link_info.link_info & I40E_AQ_LINK_UP;
 
-i40e_get_link_status_exit:
-	return link_status;
+	return status;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c
index 930369c4882b..1fa38f6e0e19 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_ethtool.c
@@ -1516,9 +1516,18 @@ static int i40e_link_test(struct net_device *netdev, u64 *data)
 {
 	struct i40e_netdev_priv *np = netdev_priv(netdev);
 	struct i40e_pf *pf = np->vsi->back;
+	i40e_status status;
+	bool link_up = false;
 
 	netif_info(pf, hw, netdev, "link test\n");
-	if (i40e_get_link_status(&pf->hw))
+	status = i40e_get_link_status(&pf->hw, &link_up);
+	if (status) {
+		netif_err(pf, drv, netdev, "link query timed out, please retry test\n");
+		*data = 1;
+		return *data;
+	}
+
+	if (link_up)
 		*data = 0;
 	else
 		*data = 1;
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
index 1fa1ebab9e92..f205e18a8530 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_main.c
@@ -5836,15 +5836,23 @@ static void i40e_veb_link_event(struct i40e_veb *veb, bool link_up)
  **/
 static void i40e_link_event(struct i40e_pf *pf)
 {
-	bool new_link, old_link;
 	struct i40e_vsi *vsi = pf->vsi[pf->lan_vsi];
 	u8 new_link_speed, old_link_speed;
+	i40e_status status;
+	bool new_link, old_link;
 
 	/* set this to force the get_link_status call to refresh state */
 	pf->hw.phy.get_link_info = true;
 
 	old_link = (pf->hw.phy.link_info_old.link_info & I40E_AQ_LINK_UP);
-	new_link = i40e_get_link_status(&pf->hw);
+
+	status = i40e_get_link_status(&pf->hw, &new_link);
+	if (status) {
+		dev_dbg(&pf->pdev->dev, "couldn't get link state, status: %d\n",
+			status);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	old_link_speed = pf->hw.phy.link_info_old.link_speed;
 	new_link_speed = pf->hw.phy.link_info.link_speed;
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_prototype.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_prototype.h
index dcb72a8ee8e5..e51e1567837c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_prototype.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_prototype.h
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ i40e_status i40e_init_shared_code(struct i40e_hw *hw);
 i40e_status i40e_pf_reset(struct i40e_hw *hw);
 void i40e_clear_hw(struct i40e_hw *hw);
 void i40e_clear_pxe_mode(struct i40e_hw *hw);
-bool i40e_get_link_status(struct i40e_hw *hw);
+i40e_status i40e_get_link_status(struct i40e_hw *hw, bool *link_up);
 i40e_status i40e_get_mac_addr(struct i40e_hw *hw, u8 *mac_addr);
 i40e_status i40e_read_bw_from_alt_ram(struct i40e_hw *hw,
 				      u32 *max_bw, u32 *min_bw, bool *min_valid,