diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/spectrum_flower.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/spectrum_flower.c
index b286fe1..51e1b39 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/spectrum_flower.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/spectrum_flower.c
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@ static int mlxsw_sp_flower_parse_actions(struct mlxsw_sp *mlxsw_sp,
 		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 
 	act = flow_action_first_entry_get(flow_action);
-	if (act->hw_stats == FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_ANY ||
-	    act->hw_stats == FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_IMMEDIATE) {
+	if (act->hw_stats & FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DISABLED) {
+		/* Nothing to do */
+	} else if (act->hw_stats & FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_IMMEDIATE) {
 		/* Count action is inserted first */
 		err = mlxsw_sp_acl_rulei_act_count(mlxsw_sp, rulei, extack);
 		if (err)
 			return err;
-	} else if (act->hw_stats != FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DISABLED &&
-		   act->hw_stats != FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DONT_CARE) {
+	} else {
 		NL_SET_ERR_MSG_MOD(extack, "Unsupported action HW stats type");
 		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 	}
diff --git a/include/net/flow_offload.h b/include/net/flow_offload.h
index 4001ffb..95d6337 100644
--- a/include/net/flow_offload.h
+++ b/include/net/flow_offload.h
@@ -168,10 +168,11 @@ enum flow_action_hw_stats_bit {
 	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_IMMEDIATE_BIT,
 	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DELAYED_BIT,
 	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DISABLED_BIT,
+
+	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_NUM_BITS
 };
 
 enum flow_action_hw_stats {
-	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DONT_CARE = 0,
 	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_IMMEDIATE =
 		BIT(FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_IMMEDIATE_BIT),
 	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DELAYED = BIT(FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DELAYED_BIT),
@@ -179,6 +180,7 @@ enum flow_action_hw_stats {
 				   FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DELAYED,
 	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DISABLED =
 		BIT(FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DISABLED_BIT),
+	FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DONT_CARE = BIT(FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_NUM_BITS) - 1,
 };
 
 typedef void (*action_destr)(void *priv);
@@ -340,11 +342,12 @@ __flow_action_hw_stats_check(const struct flow_action *action,
 		return false;
 
 	action_entry = flow_action_first_entry_get(action);
-	if (action_entry->hw_stats == FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DONT_CARE)
-		return true;
+
+	/* Zero is not a legal value for hw_stats, catch anyone passing it */
+	WARN_ON_ONCE(!action_entry->hw_stats);
 
 	if (!check_allow_bit &&
-	    action_entry->hw_stats != FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_ANY) {
+	    ~action_entry->hw_stats & FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_ANY) {
 		NL_SET_ERR_MSG_MOD(extack, "Driver supports only default HW stats type \"any\"");
 		return false;
 	} else if (check_allow_bit &&
diff --git a/net/core/flow_offload.c b/net/core/flow_offload.c
index e951b74..e64941c 100644
--- a/net/core/flow_offload.c
+++ b/net/core/flow_offload.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 struct flow_rule *flow_rule_alloc(unsigned int num_actions)
 {
 	struct flow_rule *rule;
+	int i;
 
 	rule = kzalloc(struct_size(rule, action.entries, num_actions),
 		       GFP_KERNEL);
@@ -15,6 +16,11 @@ struct flow_rule *flow_rule_alloc(unsigned int num_actions)
 		return NULL;
 
 	rule->action.num_entries = num_actions;
+	/* Pre-fill each action hw_stats with DONT_CARE.
+	 * Caller can override this if it wants stats for a given action.
+	 */
+	for (i = 0; i < num_actions; i++)
+		rule->action.entries[i].hw_stats = FLOW_ACTION_HW_STATS_DONT_CARE;
 
 	return rule;
 }