}
 }
 
+/* we get here also when setting rule to the FW failed, etc. It means that the
+ * flow rule itself might not exist, but some offloading related to the actions
+ * should be cleaned.
+ */
 static void mlx5e_tc_del_flow(struct mlx5e_priv *priv,
                              struct mlx5e_tc_flow *flow)
 {
        struct mlx5_eswitch *esw = priv->mdev->priv.eswitch;
        struct mlx5_fc *counter = NULL;
 
-       counter = mlx5_flow_rule_counter(flow->rule);
-
-       mlx5_del_flow_rules(flow->rule);
+       if (!IS_ERR(flow->rule)) {
+               counter = mlx5_flow_rule_counter(flow->rule);
+               mlx5_del_flow_rules(flow->rule);
+               mlx5_fc_destroy(priv->mdev, counter);
+       }
 
        if (esw && esw->mode == SRIOV_OFFLOADS) {
                mlx5_eswitch_del_vlan_action(esw, flow->attr);
                        mlx5e_detach_encap(priv, flow);
        }
 
-       mlx5_fc_destroy(priv->mdev, counter);
-
        if (!mlx5e_tc_num_filters(priv) && (priv->fs.tc.t)) {
                mlx5_destroy_flow_table(priv->fs.tc.t);
                priv->fs.tc.t = NULL;
 
        if (IS_ERR(flow->rule)) {
                err = PTR_ERR(flow->rule);
-               goto err_free;
+               goto err_del_rule;
        }
 
        err = rhashtable_insert_fast(&tc->ht, &flow->node,
        goto out;
 
 err_del_rule:
-       mlx5_del_flow_rules(flow->rule);
+       mlx5e_tc_del_flow(priv, flow);
 
 err_free:
        kfree(flow);