diff --git a/net/core/skbuff.c b/net/core/skbuff.c
index 1a94a3037370..436695d8deb8 100644
--- a/net/core/skbuff.c
+++ b/net/core/skbuff.c
@@ -201,6 +201,10 @@ struct sk_buff *__alloc_skb(unsigned int size, gfp_t gfp_mask,
 	skb->data = data;
 	skb_reset_tail_pointer(skb);
 	skb->end = skb->tail + size;
+#ifdef NET_SKBUFF_DATA_USES_OFFSET
+	skb->mac_header = ~0U;
+#endif
+
 	/* make sure we initialize shinfo sequentially */
 	shinfo = skb_shinfo(skb);
 	atomic_set(&shinfo->dataref, 1);