diff --git a/drivers/net/3c59x.c b/drivers/net/3c59x.c
index 85671adae455..fa42103b2874 100644
--- a/drivers/net/3c59x.c
+++ b/drivers/net/3c59x.c
@@ -635,6 +635,9 @@ struct vortex_private {
 		must_free_region:1,				/* Flag: if zero, Cardbus owns the I/O region */
 		large_frames:1,			/* accept large frames */
 		handling_irq:1;			/* private in_irq indicator */
+	/* {get|set}_wol operations are already serialized by rtnl.
+	 * no additional locking is required for the enable_wol and acpi_set_WOL()
+	 */
 	int drv_flags;
 	u16 status_enable;
 	u16 intr_enable;
@@ -2939,13 +2942,11 @@ static void vortex_get_wol(struct net_device *dev, struct ethtool_wolinfo *wol)
 {
 	struct vortex_private *vp = netdev_priv(dev);
 
-	spin_lock_irq(&vp->lock);
 	wol->supported = WAKE_MAGIC;
 
 	wol->wolopts = 0;
 	if (vp->enable_wol)
 		wol->wolopts |= WAKE_MAGIC;
-	spin_unlock_irq(&vp->lock);
 }
 
 static int vortex_set_wol(struct net_device *dev, struct ethtool_wolinfo *wol)
@@ -2954,13 +2955,11 @@ static int vortex_set_wol(struct net_device *dev, struct ethtool_wolinfo *wol)
 	if (wol->wolopts & ~WAKE_MAGIC)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	spin_lock_irq(&vp->lock);
 	if (wol->wolopts & WAKE_MAGIC)
 		vp->enable_wol = 1;
 	else
 		vp->enable_wol = 0;
 	acpi_set_WOL(dev);
-	spin_unlock_irq(&vp->lock);
 
 	return 0;
 }