diff --git a/src/libs/compat/freebsd_network/compat.c b/src/libs/compat/freebsd_network/compat.c
index ae3adf783c..932227fbde 100644
--- a/src/libs/compat/freebsd_network/compat.c
+++ b/src/libs/compat/freebsd_network/compat.c
@@ -268,13 +268,19 @@ device_get_softc(device_t dev)
 void
 device_set_softc(device_t dev, void *softc)
 {
-	if (!(dev->flags & DEVICE_SOFTC_SET)) {
+	if (dev->softc == softc)
+		return;
+
+	if ((dev->flags & DEVICE_SOFTC_SET) != 0) {
 		// Not externally allocated. We own it so we must clean it up.
 		free(dev->softc);
 	}
 
 	dev->softc = softc;
-	dev->flags |= DEVICE_SOFTC_SET;
+	if (dev->softc != NULL)
+		dev->flags |= DEVICE_SOFTC_SET;
+	else
+		dev->flags &= ~DEVICE_SOFTC_SET;
 }
 
 
@@ -452,7 +458,7 @@ device_delete_child(device_t parent, device_t child)
 		free((char *)parent->description);
 
 	// Delete softc if we were the ones to allocate it.
-	if (!(parent->flags & DEVICE_SOFTC_SET))
+	if ((parent->flags & DEVICE_SOFTC_SET) != 0)
 		free(parent->softc);
 
 	free(parent);