diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/inline_crypto/ch_ipsec/chcr_ipsec.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/inline_crypto/ch_ipsec/chcr_ipsec.c
index 585590520076..ca21794281d6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/inline_crypto/ch_ipsec/chcr_ipsec.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/chelsio/inline_crypto/ch_ipsec/chcr_ipsec.c
@@ -283,6 +283,10 @@ static int ch_ipsec_xfrm_add_state(struct xfrm_state *x)
 		pr_debug("Cannot offload xfrm states with geniv other than seqiv\n");
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	if (x->xso.type != XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_CRYPTO) {
+		pr_debug("Unsupported xfrm offload\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	sa_entry = kzalloc(sizeof(*sa_entry), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!sa_entry) {
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c
index 774de63dd93a..53a969e34883 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_ipsec.c
@@ -585,6 +585,11 @@ static int ixgbe_ipsec_add_sa(struct xfrm_state *xs)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	if (xs->xso.type != XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_CRYPTO) {
+		netdev_err(dev, "Unsupported ipsec offload type\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	if (xs->xso.dir == XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_IN) {
 		struct rx_sa rsa;
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbevf/ipsec.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbevf/ipsec.c
index 9984ebc62d78..c1cf540d162a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbevf/ipsec.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbevf/ipsec.c
@@ -280,6 +280,11 @@ static int ixgbevf_ipsec_add_sa(struct xfrm_state *xs)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	if (xs->xso.type != XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_CRYPTO) {
+		netdev_err(dev, "Unsupported ipsec offload type\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	if (xs->xso.dir == XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_IN) {
 		struct rx_sa rsa;
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c
index 1b03ab03fc5a..e6411533f911 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c
@@ -253,6 +253,10 @@ static inline int mlx5e_xfrm_validate_state(struct xfrm_state *x)
 		netdev_info(netdev, "Cannot offload xfrm states with geniv other than seqiv\n");
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	if (x->xso.type != XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_CRYPTO) {
+		netdev_info(netdev, "Unsupported xfrm offload type\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/ipsec.c b/drivers/net/netdevsim/ipsec.c
index 386336a38f34..b93baf5c8bee 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/ipsec.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/ipsec.c
@@ -149,6 +149,11 @@ static int nsim_ipsec_add_sa(struct xfrm_state *xs)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	if (xs->xso.type != XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_CRYPTO) {
+		netdev_err(dev, "Unsupported ipsec offload type\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	/* find the first unused index */
 	ret = nsim_ipsec_find_empty_idx(ipsec);
 	if (ret < 0) {
diff --git a/net/xfrm/xfrm_device.c b/net/xfrm/xfrm_device.c
index 7c4e0f14df27..dc4fb58dd7eb 100644
--- a/net/xfrm/xfrm_device.c
+++ b/net/xfrm/xfrm_device.c
@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ int xfrm_dev_state_add(struct net *net, struct xfrm_state *x,
 	struct xfrm_dev_offload *xso = &x->xso;
 	xfrm_address_t *saddr;
 	xfrm_address_t *daddr;
+	bool is_packet_offload;
 
 	if (!x->type_offload) {
 		NL_SET_ERR_MSG(extack, "Type doesn't support offload");
@@ -228,11 +229,13 @@ int xfrm_dev_state_add(struct net *net, struct xfrm_state *x,
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	if (xuo->flags & ~(XFRM_OFFLOAD_IPV6 | XFRM_OFFLOAD_INBOUND)) {
+	if (xuo->flags &
+	    ~(XFRM_OFFLOAD_IPV6 | XFRM_OFFLOAD_INBOUND | XFRM_OFFLOAD_PACKET)) {
 		NL_SET_ERR_MSG(extack, "Unrecognized flags in offload request");
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	is_packet_offload = xuo->flags & XFRM_OFFLOAD_PACKET;
 	dev = dev_get_by_index(net, xuo->ifindex);
 	if (!dev) {
 		if (!(xuo->flags & XFRM_OFFLOAD_INBOUND)) {
@@ -247,7 +250,7 @@ int xfrm_dev_state_add(struct net *net, struct xfrm_state *x,
 					x->props.family,
 					xfrm_smark_get(0, x));
 		if (IS_ERR(dst))
-			return 0;
+			return (is_packet_offload) ? -EINVAL : 0;
 
 		dev = dst->dev;
 
@@ -258,7 +261,7 @@ int xfrm_dev_state_add(struct net *net, struct xfrm_state *x,
 	if (!dev->xfrmdev_ops || !dev->xfrmdev_ops->xdo_dev_state_add) {
 		xso->dev = NULL;
 		dev_put(dev);
-		return 0;
+		return (is_packet_offload) ? -EINVAL : 0;
 	}
 
 	if (x->props.flags & XFRM_STATE_ESN &&
@@ -278,7 +281,10 @@ int xfrm_dev_state_add(struct net *net, struct xfrm_state *x,
 	else
 		xso->dir = XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_OUT;
 
-	xso->type = XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_CRYPTO;
+	if (is_packet_offload)
+		xso->type = XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_PACKET;
+	else
+		xso->type = XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_CRYPTO;
 
 	err = dev->xfrmdev_ops->xdo_dev_state_add(x);
 	if (err) {
@@ -288,7 +294,15 @@ int xfrm_dev_state_add(struct net *net, struct xfrm_state *x,
 		netdev_put(dev, &xso->dev_tracker);
 		xso->type = XFRM_DEV_OFFLOAD_UNSPECIFIED;
 
-		if (err != -EOPNOTSUPP) {
+		/* User explicitly requested packet offload mode and configured
+		 * policy in addition to the XFRM state. So be civil to users,
+		 * and return an error instead of taking fallback path.
+		 *
+		 * This WARN_ON() can be seen as a documentation for driver
+		 * authors to do not return -EOPNOTSUPP in packet offload mode.
+		 */
+		WARN_ON(err == -EOPNOTSUPP && is_packet_offload);
+		if (err != -EOPNOTSUPP || is_packet_offload) {
 			NL_SET_ERR_MSG(extack, "Device failed to offload this state");
 			return err;
 		}
