diff --git a/net/mac80211/driver-ops.c b/net/mac80211/driver-ops.c
index acd4afb4944b..c9a8a2433e8a 100644
--- a/net/mac80211/driver-ops.c
+++ b/net/mac80211/driver-ops.c
@@ -187,11 +187,16 @@ int drv_conf_tx(struct ieee80211_local *local,
 	if (!check_sdata_in_driver(sdata))
 		return -EIO;
 
-	if (WARN_ONCE(params->cw_min == 0 ||
-		      params->cw_min > params->cw_max,
-		      "%s: invalid CW_min/CW_max: %d/%d\n",
-		      sdata->name, params->cw_min, params->cw_max))
+	if (params->cw_min == 0 || params->cw_min > params->cw_max) {
+		/*
+		 * If we can't configure hardware anyway, don't warn. We may
+		 * never have initialized the CW parameters.
+		 */
+		WARN_ONCE(local->ops->conf_tx,
+			  "%s: invalid CW_min/CW_max: %d/%d\n",
+			  sdata->name, params->cw_min, params->cw_max);
 		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	trace_drv_conf_tx(local, sdata, ac, params);
 	if (local->ops->conf_tx)