diff --git a/hw/net/dp8393x.c b/hw/net/dp8393x.c
index 85d3f3788e..3d991af163 100644
--- a/hw/net/dp8393x.c
+++ b/hw/net/dp8393x.c
@@ -831,9 +831,15 @@ static ssize_t dp8393x_receive(NetClientState *nc, const uint8_t * buf,
         /* EOL detected */
         s->regs[SONIC_ISR] |= SONIC_ISR_RDE;
     } else {
-        dp8393x_put(s, width, 0, 0); /* in_use */
-        address_space_rw(&s->as, dp8393x_crda(s) + sizeof(uint16_t) * 6 * width,
-            MEMTXATTRS_UNSPECIFIED, (uint8_t *)s->data, sizeof(uint16_t), 1);
+        /* Clear in_use, but it is always 16bit wide */
+        int offset = dp8393x_crda(s) + sizeof(uint16_t) * 6 * width;
+        if (s->big_endian && width == 2) {
+            /* we need to adjust the offset of the 16bit field */
+            offset += sizeof(uint16_t);
+        }
+        s->data[0] = 0;
+        address_space_rw(&s->as, offset, MEMTXATTRS_UNSPECIFIED,
+                         (uint8_t *)s->data, sizeof(uint16_t), 1);
         s->regs[SONIC_CRDA] = s->regs[SONIC_LLFA];
         s->regs[SONIC_ISR] |= SONIC_ISR_PKTRX;
         s->regs[SONIC_RSC] = (s->regs[SONIC_RSC] & 0xff00) | (((s->regs[SONIC_RSC] & 0x00ff) + 1) & 0x00ff);