diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mvm/rxmq.c b/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mvm/rxmq.c
index 34791628cfb3..bb63e75a9b7f 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mvm/rxmq.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mvm/rxmq.c
@@ -151,17 +151,9 @@ static void iwl_mvm_create_skb(struct sk_buff *skb, struct ieee80211_hdr *hdr,
 	unsigned int hdrlen = ieee80211_hdrlen(hdr->frame_control);
 
 	if (desc->mac_flags2 & IWL_RX_MPDU_MFLG2_PAD) {
+		len -= 2;
 		pad_len = 2;
-
-		/*
-		 * If the device inserted padding it means that (it thought)
-		 * the 802.11 header wasn't a multiple of 4 bytes long. In
-		 * this case, reserve two bytes at the start of the SKB to
-		 * align the payload properly in case we end up copying it.
-		 */
-		skb_reserve(skb, pad_len);
 	}
-	len -= pad_len;
 
 	/* If frame is small enough to fit in skb->head, pull it completely.
 	 * If not, only pull ieee80211_hdr (including crypto if present, and
@@ -866,6 +858,16 @@ void iwl_mvm_rx_mpdu_mq(struct iwl_mvm *mvm, struct napi_struct *napi,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (desc->mac_flags2 & IWL_RX_MPDU_MFLG2_PAD) {
+		/*
+		 * If the device inserted padding it means that (it thought)
+		 * the 802.11 header wasn't a multiple of 4 bytes long. In
+		 * this case, reserve two bytes at the start of the SKB to
+		 * align the payload properly in case we end up copying it.
+		 */
+		skb_reserve(skb, 2);
+	}
+
 	rx_status = IEEE80211_SKB_RXCB(skb);
 
 	if (iwl_mvm_rx_crypto(mvm, hdr, rx_status, desc,