diff --git a/include/linux/etherdevice.h b/include/linux/etherdevice.h
index 25d62e6..94af6a7 100644
--- a/include/linux/etherdevice.h
+++ b/include/linux/etherdevice.h
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ static inline void random_ether_addr(u8 *addr)
  *
  * Compare two ethernet addresses, returns 0 if equal
  */
-static inline unsigned compare_ether_addr(const u8 *addr1, const u8 *addr2)
+static __always_inline unsigned compare_ether_addr(const u8 *addr1, const u8 *addr2)
 {
 	const u16 *a = (const u16 *) addr1;
 	const u16 *b = (const u16 *) addr2;
diff --git a/net/ethernet/eth.c b/net/ethernet/eth.c
index b9d85af..30b60b2 100644
--- a/net/ethernet/eth.c
+++ b/net/ethernet/eth.c
@@ -162,7 +162,12 @@ __be16 eth_type_trans(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 
 	skb->dev = dev;
 	skb_reset_mac_header(skb);
-	skb_pull(skb, ETH_HLEN);
+	/*
+	 * Hand coded skb_pull(skb, ETH_HLEN) to avoid a function call
+	 */
+	if (likely(skb->len >= ETH_HLEN))
+		__skb_pull(skb, ETH_HLEN);
+
 	eth = eth_hdr(skb);
 
 	if (is_multicast_ether_addr(eth->h_dest)) {