diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_stats.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_stats.c
index 732775954a..72ba0161f0 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_stats.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_stats.c
@@ -42,17 +42,20 @@ mlx5_xstats_get(struct rte_eth_dev *dev, struct rte_eth_xstat *stats,
        unsigned int i;
        uint64_t counters[n];
        struct mlx5_xstats_ctrl *xstats_ctrl = &priv->xstats_ctrl;
-       uint16_t mlx5_stats_n = xstats_ctrl->mlx5_stats_n;
+       uint16_t mlx5_stats_n;
+       int stats_n;
+
+       stats_n = mlx5_os_get_stats_n(dev);
+       if (stats_n < 0)
+               return stats_n;
+
+       if (xstats_ctrl->stats_n != stats_n)
+               mlx5_os_stats_init(dev);
+
+       mlx5_stats_n = xstats_ctrl->mlx5_stats_n;
 
        if (n >= mlx5_stats_n && stats) {
-               int stats_n;
                int ret;
-
-               stats_n = mlx5_os_get_stats_n(dev);
-               if (stats_n < 0)
-                       return stats_n;
-               if (xstats_ctrl->stats_n != stats_n)
-                       mlx5_os_stats_init(dev);
                ret = mlx5_os_read_dev_counters(dev, counters);
                if (ret)
                        return ret;