diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
index 30ae6d9..9b33d6e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 	struct virtqueue *rvq, *svq;
 	struct net_device *dev;
 	struct napi_struct napi;
+	unsigned int status;
 
 	/* The skb we couldn't send because buffers were full. */
 	struct sk_buff *last_xmit_skb;
@@ -611,6 +612,7 @@
 	.set_tx_csum = virtnet_set_tx_csum,
 	.set_sg = ethtool_op_set_sg,
 	.set_tso = ethtool_op_set_tso,
+	.get_link = ethtool_op_get_link,
 };
 
 #define MIN_MTU 68
@@ -636,6 +638,41 @@
 #endif
 };
 
+static void virtnet_update_status(struct virtnet_info *vi)
+{
+	u16 v;
+
+	if (!virtio_has_feature(vi->vdev, VIRTIO_NET_F_STATUS))
+		return;
+
+	vi->vdev->config->get(vi->vdev,
+			      offsetof(struct virtio_net_config, status),
+			      &v, sizeof(v));
+
+	/* Ignore unknown (future) status bits */
+	v &= VIRTIO_NET_S_LINK_UP;
+
+	if (vi->status == v)
+		return;
+
+	vi->status = v;
+
+	if (vi->status & VIRTIO_NET_S_LINK_UP) {
+		netif_carrier_on(vi->dev);
+		netif_wake_queue(vi->dev);
+	} else {
+		netif_carrier_off(vi->dev);
+		netif_stop_queue(vi->dev);
+	}
+}
+
+static void virtnet_config_changed(struct virtio_device *vdev)
+{
+	struct virtnet_info *vi = vdev->priv;
+
+	virtnet_update_status(vi);
+}
+
 static int virtnet_probe(struct virtio_device *vdev)
 {
 	int err;
@@ -738,6 +775,9 @@
 		goto unregister;
 	}
 
+	vi->status = VIRTIO_NET_S_LINK_UP;
+	virtnet_update_status(vi);
+
 	pr_debug("virtnet: registered device %s\n", dev->name);
 	return 0;
 
@@ -793,7 +833,7 @@
 	VIRTIO_NET_F_HOST_TSO4, VIRTIO_NET_F_HOST_UFO, VIRTIO_NET_F_HOST_TSO6,
 	VIRTIO_NET_F_HOST_ECN, VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_TSO4, VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_TSO6,
 	VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_ECN, /* We don't yet handle UFO input. */
-	VIRTIO_NET_F_MRG_RXBUF,
+	VIRTIO_NET_F_MRG_RXBUF, VIRTIO_NET_F_STATUS,
 	VIRTIO_F_NOTIFY_ON_EMPTY,
 };
 
@@ -805,6 +845,7 @@
 	.id_table =	id_table,
 	.probe =	virtnet_probe,
 	.remove =	__devexit_p(virtnet_remove),
+	.config_changed = virtnet_config_changed,
 };
 
 static int __init init(void)
diff --git a/include/linux/virtio_net.h b/include/linux/virtio_net.h
index 5cdd0aa..f76bd4a 100644
--- a/include/linux/virtio_net.h
+++ b/include/linux/virtio_net.h
@@ -21,11 +21,16 @@
 #define VIRTIO_NET_F_HOST_ECN	13	/* Host can handle TSO[6] w/ ECN in. */
 #define VIRTIO_NET_F_HOST_UFO	14	/* Host can handle UFO in. */
 #define VIRTIO_NET_F_MRG_RXBUF	15	/* Host can merge receive buffers. */
+#define VIRTIO_NET_F_STATUS	16	/* virtio_net_config.status available */
+
+#define VIRTIO_NET_S_LINK_UP	1	/* Link is up */
 
 struct virtio_net_config
 {
 	/* The config defining mac address (if VIRTIO_NET_F_MAC) */
 	__u8 mac[6];
+	/* See VIRTIO_NET_F_STATUS and VIRTIO_NET_S_* above */
+	__u16 status;
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
 /* This is the first element of the scatter-gather list.  If you don't