diff --git a/sys/net/if.c b/sys/net/if.c
--- a/sys/net/if.c
+++ b/sys/net/if.c
@@ -645,6 +645,8 @@
 	ifq_init(&ifp->if_snd, ifp);
 
 	refcount_init(&ifp->if_refcount, 1);	/* Index reference. */
+	refcount_init(&ifp->if_slowref, 1);
+
 	for (int i = 0; i < IFCOUNTERS; i++)
 		ifp->if_counters[i] = counter_u64_alloc(M_WAITOK);
 	ifp->if_get_counter = if_get_counter_default;
@@ -753,6 +755,33 @@
 	NET_EPOCH_CALL(if_destroy, &ifp->if_epoch_ctx);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Keep track of slow path configuration events.
+ * Returns true on success and false on failure.
+ */
+bool
+if_slow_ref(struct ifnet *ifp)
+{
+	return (refcount_acquire_if_not_zero(&ifp->if_slowref));
+}
+
+void
+if_slow_drain(struct ifnet *ifp)
+{
+	if (refcount_release(&ifp->if_slowref))
+		return;
+
+	while (refcount_load(&ifp->if_slowref) != 0)
+		pause("W", hz);
+}
+
+void
+if_slow_unref(struct ifnet *ifp)
+{
+	if (refcount_release(&ifp->if_slowref))
+		return;
+}
+
 void
 ifq_init(struct ifaltq *ifq, struct ifnet *ifp)
 {
@@ -2459,8 +2488,8 @@
 /*
  * Hardware specific interface ioctls.
  */
-int
-ifhwioctl(u_long cmd, struct ifnet *ifp, caddr_t data, struct thread *td)
+static inline int
+ifhwioctl_sub(u_long cmd, struct ifnet *ifp, caddr_t data, struct thread *td)
 {
 	struct ifreq *ifr;
 	int error = 0, do_ifup = 0;
@@ -2887,6 +2916,19 @@
 	return (error);
 }
 
+int
+ifhwioctl(u_long cmd, struct ifnet *ifp, caddr_t data, struct thread *td)
+{
+	int error;
+
+	if (if_slow_ref(ifp) == false)
+		return (ENXIO);
+	error = ifhwioctl_sub(cmd, ifp, data, td);
+	if_slow_unref(ifp);
+	return (error);
+}
+
+
 #ifdef COMPAT_FREEBSD32
 struct ifconf32 {
 	int32_t	ifc_len;
diff --git a/sys/net/if_var.h b/sys/net/if_var.h
--- a/sys/net/if_var.h
+++ b/sys/net/if_var.h
@@ -312,6 +312,7 @@
 	void	*if_linkmib;		/* link-type-specific MIB data */
 	size_t	if_linkmiblen;		/* length of above data */
 	u_int	if_refcount;		/* reference count */
+  	u_int	if_slowref;		/* reference count (slow path) */
 
 	/* These fields are shared with struct if_data. */
 	uint8_t		if_type;	/* ethernet, tokenring, etc */
@@ -658,6 +659,9 @@
 int	if_printf(struct ifnet *, const char *, ...) __printflike(2, 3);
 void	if_ref(struct ifnet *);
 void	if_rele(struct ifnet *);
+bool	if_slow_ref(struct ifnet *) __result_use_check;
+void	if_slow_drain(struct ifnet *);
+void	if_slow_unref(struct ifnet *);
 int	if_setlladdr(struct ifnet *, const u_char *, int);
 int	if_tunnel_check_nesting(struct ifnet *, struct mbuf *, uint32_t, int);
 void	if_up(struct ifnet *);