diff --git a/sys/net/gnrc/link_layer/netdev2/gnrc_netdev2_eth.c b/sys/net/gnrc/link_layer/netdev2/gnrc_netdev2_eth.c
index 7c779c5f39f9dc9f90f455372e3eb69437bcce55..35b16d269add8e82ad519ba12016fc12875fcaf8 100644
--- a/sys/net/gnrc/link_layer/netdev2/gnrc_netdev2_eth.c
+++ b/sys/net/gnrc/link_layer/netdev2/gnrc_netdev2_eth.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ static gnrc_pktsnip_t *_recv(gnrc_netdev2_t *gnrc_netdev2)
     int bytes_expected = dev->driver->recv(dev, NULL, 0, NULL);
     gnrc_pktsnip_t *pkt = NULL;
 
-    if (bytes_expected) {
+    if (bytes_expected > 0) {
         pkt = gnrc_pktbuf_add(NULL, NULL,
                 bytes_expected,
                 GNRC_NETTYPE_UNDEF);