diff --git a/net/ncsi/ncsi-cmd.c b/net/ncsi/ncsi-cmd.c
index ba9ae482141b..dda8b76b7798 100644
--- a/net/ncsi/ncsi-cmd.c
+++ b/net/ncsi/ncsi-cmd.c
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "ncsi-pkt.h"
 
+static const int padding_bytes = 26;
+
 u32 ncsi_calculate_checksum(unsigned char *data, int len)
 {
 	u32 checksum = 0;
@@ -213,12 +215,17 @@ static int ncsi_cmd_handler_oem(struct sk_buff *skb,
 {
 	struct ncsi_cmd_oem_pkt *cmd;
 	unsigned int len;
+	int payload;
+	/* NC-SI spec DSP_0222_1.2.0, section 8.2.2.2
+	 * requires payload to be padded with 0 to
+	 * 32-bit boundary before the checksum field.
+	 * Ensure the padding bytes are accounted for in
+	 * skb allocation
+	 */
 
+	payload = ALIGN(nca->payload, 4);
 	len = sizeof(struct ncsi_cmd_pkt_hdr) + 4;
-	if (nca->payload < 26)
-		len += 26;
-	else
-		len += nca->payload;
+	len += max(payload, padding_bytes);
 
 	cmd = skb_put_zero(skb, len);
 	memcpy(&cmd->mfr_id, nca->data, nca->payload);
@@ -272,6 +279,7 @@ static struct ncsi_request *ncsi_alloc_command(struct ncsi_cmd_arg *nca)
 	struct net_device *dev = nd->dev;
 	int hlen = LL_RESERVED_SPACE(dev);
 	int tlen = dev->needed_tailroom;
+	int payload;
 	int len = hlen + tlen;
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
 	struct ncsi_request *nr;
@@ -281,14 +289,14 @@ static struct ncsi_request *ncsi_alloc_command(struct ncsi_cmd_arg *nca)
 		return NULL;
 
 	/* NCSI command packet has 16-bytes header, payload, 4 bytes checksum.
+	 * Payload needs padding so that the checksum field following payload is
+	 * aligned to 32-bit boundary.
 	 * The packet needs padding if its payload is less than 26 bytes to
 	 * meet 64 bytes minimal ethernet frame length.
 	 */
 	len += sizeof(struct ncsi_cmd_pkt_hdr) + 4;
-	if (nca->payload < 26)
-		len += 26;
-	else
-		len += nca->payload;
+	payload = ALIGN(nca->payload, 4);
+	len += max(payload, padding_bytes);
 
 	/* Allocate skb */
 	skb = alloc_skb(len, GFP_ATOMIC);