diff --git a/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.c b/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.c
index 2ed2370a3166..2d73ebbf3836 100644
--- a/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.c
+++ b/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.c
@@ -1787,7 +1787,7 @@ static int es58x_open(struct net_device *netdev)
 	struct es58x_device *es58x_dev = es58x_priv(netdev)->es58x_dev;
 	int ret;
 
-	if (atomic_inc_return(&es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt) == 1) {
+	if (!es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt) {
 		ret = es58x_alloc_rx_urbs(es58x_dev);
 		if (ret)
 			return ret;
@@ -1805,12 +1805,13 @@ static int es58x_open(struct net_device *netdev)
 	if (ret)
 		goto free_urbs;
 
+	es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt++;
 	netif_start_queue(netdev);
 
 	return ret;
 
  free_urbs:
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt))
+	if (!es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt)
 		es58x_free_urbs(es58x_dev);
 	netdev_err(netdev, "%s: Could not open the network device: %pe\n",
 		   __func__, ERR_PTR(ret));
@@ -1845,7 +1846,8 @@ static int es58x_stop(struct net_device *netdev)
 
 	es58x_flush_pending_tx_msg(netdev);
 
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt))
+	es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt--;
+	if (!es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt)
 		es58x_free_urbs(es58x_dev);
 
 	return 0;
@@ -2215,7 +2217,6 @@ static struct es58x_device *es58x_init_es58x_dev(struct usb_interface *intf,
 	init_usb_anchor(&es58x_dev->tx_urbs_idle);
 	init_usb_anchor(&es58x_dev->tx_urbs_busy);
 	atomic_set(&es58x_dev->tx_urbs_idle_cnt, 0);
-	atomic_set(&es58x_dev->opened_channel_cnt, 0);
 	usb_set_intfdata(intf, es58x_dev);
 
 	es58x_dev->rx_pipe = usb_rcvbulkpipe(es58x_dev->udev,
diff --git a/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.h b/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.h
index 826a15871573..e5033cb5e695 100644
--- a/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.h
+++ b/drivers/net/can/usb/etas_es58x/es58x_core.h
@@ -373,8 +373,6 @@ struct es58x_operators {
  *	queue wake/stop logic should prevent this URB from getting
  *	empty. Please refer to es58x_get_tx_urb() for more details.
  * @tx_urbs_idle_cnt: number of urbs in @tx_urbs_idle.
- * @opened_channel_cnt: number of channels opened (c.f. es58x_open()
- *	and es58x_stop()).
  * @ktime_req_ns: kernel timestamp when es58x_set_realtime_diff_ns()
  *	was called.
  * @realtime_diff_ns: difference in nanoseconds between the clocks of
@@ -384,6 +382,10 @@ struct es58x_operators {
  *	in RX branches.
  * @rx_max_packet_size: Maximum length of bulk-in URB.
  * @num_can_ch: Number of CAN channel (i.e. number of elements of @netdev).
+ * @opened_channel_cnt: number of channels opened. Free of race
+ *	conditions because its two users (net_device_ops:ndo_open()
+ *	and net_device_ops:ndo_close()) guarantee that the network
+ *	stack big kernel lock (a.k.a. rtnl_mutex) is being hold.
  * @rx_cmd_buf_len: Length of @rx_cmd_buf.
  * @rx_cmd_buf: The device might split the URB commands in an
  *	arbitrary amount of pieces. This buffer is used to concatenate
@@ -406,7 +408,6 @@ struct es58x_device {
 	struct usb_anchor tx_urbs_busy;
 	struct usb_anchor tx_urbs_idle;
 	atomic_t tx_urbs_idle_cnt;
-	atomic_t opened_channel_cnt;
 
 	u64 ktime_req_ns;
 	s64 realtime_diff_ns;
@@ -415,6 +416,7 @@ struct es58x_device {
 
 	u16 rx_max_packet_size;
 	u8 num_can_ch;
+	u8 opened_channel_cnt;
 
 	u16 rx_cmd_buf_len;
 	union es58x_urb_cmd rx_cmd_buf;