diff --git a/drivers/atm/nicstar.c b/drivers/atm/nicstar.c
index f1e8aa26d284..f9d29de537b6 100644
--- a/drivers/atm/nicstar.c
+++ b/drivers/atm/nicstar.c
@@ -525,6 +525,15 @@ static int ns_init_card(int i, struct pci_dev *pcidev)
 	/* Set the VPI/VCI MSb mask to zero so we can receive OAM cells */
 	writel(0x00000000, card->membase + VPM);
 
+	card->intcnt = 0;
+	if (request_irq
+	    (pcidev->irq, &ns_irq_handler, IRQF_SHARED, "nicstar", card) != 0) {
+		pr_err("nicstar%d: can't allocate IRQ %d.\n", i, pcidev->irq);
+		error = 9;
+		ns_init_card_error(card, error);
+		return error;
+	}
+
 	/* Initialize TSQ */
 	card->tsq.org = dma_alloc_coherent(&card->pcidev->dev,
 					   NS_TSQSIZE + NS_TSQ_ALIGNMENT,
@@ -751,15 +760,6 @@ static int ns_init_card(int i, struct pci_dev *pcidev)
 
 	card->efbie = 1;
 
-	card->intcnt = 0;
-	if (request_irq
-	    (pcidev->irq, &ns_irq_handler, IRQF_SHARED, "nicstar", card) != 0) {
-		printk("nicstar%d: can't allocate IRQ %d.\n", i, pcidev->irq);
-		error = 9;
-		ns_init_card_error(card, error);
-		return error;
-	}
-
 	/* Register device */
 	card->atmdev = atm_dev_register("nicstar", &card->pcidev->dev, &atm_ops,
 					-1, NULL);