diff --git a/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/core.c b/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/core.c
index c30348e402d5..7c66727359d4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/core.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ibm_newemac/core.c
@@ -2562,8 +2562,11 @@ static int __devinit emac_probe(struct of_device *ofdev,
 	struct device_node **blist = NULL;
 	int err, i;
 
-	/* Skip unused/unwired EMACS */
-	if (of_get_property(np, "unused", NULL))
+	/* Skip unused/unwired EMACS.  We leave the check for an unused
+	 * property here for now, but new flat device trees should set a
+	 * status property to "disabled" instead.
+	 */
+	if (of_get_property(np, "unused", NULL) || !of_device_is_available(np))
 		return -ENODEV;
 
 	/* Find ourselves in the bootlist if we are there */