diff --git a/drivers/net/b44.c b/drivers/net/b44.c
index 2a9132343b66..4869adb69586 100644
--- a/drivers/net/b44.c
+++ b/drivers/net/b44.c
@@ -1505,8 +1505,7 @@ static int b44_magic_pattern(u8 *macaddr, u8 *ppattern, u8 *pmask, int offset)
 		for (k = 0; k< ethaddr_bytes; k++) {
 			ppattern[offset + magicsync +
 				(j * ETH_ALEN) + k] = macaddr[k];
-			len++;
-			set_bit(len, (unsigned long *) pmask);
+			set_bit(len++, (unsigned long *) pmask);
 		}
 	}
 	return len - 1;