diff --git a/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l2_main.c b/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l2_main.c
index 8024a2112a87..47d37e75dda6 100644
--- a/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l2_main.c
+++ b/drivers/s390/net/qeth_l2_main.c
@@ -2039,7 +2039,9 @@ static void qeth_l2_vnicc_init(struct qeth_card *card)
 	/* enforce assumed default values and recover settings, if changed  */
 	error |= qeth_l2_vnicc_recover_timeout(card, QETH_VNICC_LEARNING,
 					       timeout);
-	chars_tmp = card->options.vnicc.wanted_chars ^ QETH_VNICC_DEFAULT;
+	/* Change chars, if necessary  */
+	chars_tmp = card->options.vnicc.wanted_chars ^
+		    card->options.vnicc.cur_chars;
 	chars_len = sizeof(card->options.vnicc.wanted_chars) * BITS_PER_BYTE;
 	for_each_set_bit(i, &chars_tmp, chars_len) {
 		vnicc = BIT(i);