diff --git a/net/dsa-uclass.c b/net/dsa-uclass.c
index 5759ced..211a991 100644
--- a/net/dsa-uclass.c
+++ b/net/dsa-uclass.c
@@ -342,6 +342,19 @@
 	.plat_auto = sizeof(struct eth_pdata),
 };
 
+static int dsa_sanitize_ops(struct udevice *dev)
+{
+	struct dsa_ops *ops = dsa_get_ops(dev);
+
+	if ((!ops->xmit || !ops->rcv) &&
+	    (!ops->port_enable && !ops->port_disable)) {
+		dev_err(dev, "Packets cannot be steered to ports\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /*
  * This function mostly deals with pulling information out of the device tree
  * into the pdata structure.
@@ -358,6 +371,10 @@
 	if (!ofnode_valid(node))
 		return -ENODEV;
 
+	err = dsa_sanitize_ops(dev);
+	if (err)
+		return err;
+
 	pdata->master_node = ofnode_null();
 
 	node = ofnode_find_subnode(node, "ports");