diff --git a/package/base-files/files/sbin/hotplug b/package/base-files/files/sbin/hotplug
index 75d517083..189cfee67 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/sbin/hotplug
+++ b/package/base-files/files/sbin/hotplug
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # Copyright (C) 2006 OpenWrt.org
 
-[ -x /sbin/mdev ] && /sbin/mdev "$@"
+[ -x /sbin/mdev -a -n "$ACTION" -a -n "$DEVPATH" ] && /sbin/mdev "$@"
 
 # bypass the normal hotplug path for firmware loading
 # would otherwise cause problems with drivers like bcm43xx