diff --git a/drivers/net/usb/cdc_ether.c b/drivers/net/usb/cdc_ether.c
index 3da70bf9936a..7cba2c3759df 100644
--- a/drivers/net/usb/cdc_ether.c
+++ b/drivers/net/usb/cdc_ether.c
@@ -160,6 +160,12 @@ int usbnet_generic_cdc_bind(struct usbnet *dev, struct usb_interface *intf)
 	info->u = header.usb_cdc_union_desc;
 	info->header = header.usb_cdc_header_desc;
 	info->ether = header.usb_cdc_ether_desc;
+	if (!info->u) {
+		if (rndis)
+			goto skip;
+		else /* in that case a quirk is mandatory */
+			goto bad_desc;
+	}
 	/* we need a master/control interface (what we're
 	 * probed with) and a slave/data interface; union
 	 * descriptors sort this all out.
@@ -256,7 +262,7 @@ skip:
 			goto bad_desc;
 		}
 
-	} else if (!info->header || !info->u || (!rndis && !info->ether)) {
+	} else if (!info->header || (!rndis && !info->ether)) {
 		dev_dbg(&intf->dev, "missing cdc %s%s%sdescriptor\n",
 			info->header ? "" : "header ",
 			info->u ? "" : "union ",