diff --git a/net/wireless/nl80211.c b/net/wireless/nl80211.c
index be2501538011..b6f84f6a2a09 100644
--- a/net/wireless/nl80211.c
+++ b/net/wireless/nl80211.c
@@ -4400,6 +4400,16 @@ static int nl80211_new_station(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 	if (parse_station_flags(info, dev->ieee80211_ptr->iftype, &params))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
+	/* HT/VHT requires QoS, but if we don't have that just ignore HT/VHT
+	 * as userspace might just pass through the capabilities from the IEs
+	 * directly, rather than enforcing this restriction and returning an
+	 * error in this case.
+	 */
+	if (!(params.sta_flags_set & BIT(NL80211_STA_FLAG_WME))) {
+		params.ht_capa = NULL;
+		params.vht_capa = NULL;
+	}
+
 	/* When you run into this, adjust the code below for the new flag */
 	BUILD_BUG_ON(NL80211_STA_FLAG_MAX != 7);