diff --git a/drivers/nfc/st21nfcb/st21nfcb_se.c b/drivers/nfc/st21nfcb/st21nfcb_se.c
index d23e8f27c4aa..7c82e9d87a65 100644
--- a/drivers/nfc/st21nfcb/st21nfcb_se.c
+++ b/drivers/nfc/st21nfcb/st21nfcb_se.c
@@ -499,10 +499,6 @@ static int st21nfcb_hci_network_init(struct nci_dev *ndev)
 	struct nci_conn_info    *conn_info;
 	int r, dev_num;
 
-	r = nci_nfcee_discover(ndev, NCI_NFCEE_DISCOVERY_ACTION_ENABLE);
-	if (r != NCI_STATUS_OK)
-		goto exit;
-
 	dest_params =
 		kzalloc(sizeof(struct core_conn_create_dest_spec_params) +
 			sizeof(struct dest_spec_params), GFP_KERNEL);
diff --git a/net/nfc/nci/core.c b/net/nfc/nci/core.c
index ddfe91e43c88..9575a1892607 100644
--- a/net/nfc/nci/core.c
+++ b/net/nfc/nci/core.c
@@ -880,10 +880,16 @@ static int nci_disable_se(struct nfc_dev *nfc_dev, u32 se_idx)
 
 static int nci_discover_se(struct nfc_dev *nfc_dev)
 {
+	int r;
 	struct nci_dev *ndev = nfc_get_drvdata(nfc_dev);
 
-	if (ndev->ops->discover_se)
+	if (ndev->ops->discover_se) {
+		r = nci_nfcee_discover(ndev, NCI_NFCEE_DISCOVERY_ACTION_ENABLE);
+		if (r != NCI_STATUS_OK)
+			return -EPROTO;
+
 		return ndev->ops->discover_se(ndev);
+	}
 
 	return 0;
 }