diff --git a/eth_interface.c b/eth_interface.c
index 2883aeb..178c995 100644
--- a/eth_interface.c
+++ b/eth_interface.c
@@ -138,7 +138,14 @@ void ethinf_receive(EthInterface *intf, const RawPckt *rawPckt) {
 }
 
 void ethinf_transmit(EthInterface *intf, const RawPckt *rawPckt) {
-    if (mq_push(intf->txQ, rawPckt)) {                              // push packet onto the message queue
+    // if link is down, discard packets
+    if (!ethinf_get_link_state(intf)) {
+        dynmem_free(rawPckt->payload);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // push packet onto the message queue
+    if (mq_push(intf->txQ, rawPckt)) {                              
         ethinf_push_notification(intf, ETH_IIE_TRANSMIT_NOTIFY, 0); // notify processing thread of the peding transmit
     } else {
         ERROR("Interface TRANSMIT queue full, packet dropped!\n");