diff --git a/src/drivers/net/efi/nii.c b/src/drivers/net/efi/nii.c
index d68b36cc..d76bfb89 100644
--- a/src/drivers/net/efi/nii.c
+++ b/src/drivers/net/efi/nii.c
@@ -632,22 +632,6 @@ static int nii_initialise ( struct nii_nic *nii ) {
 	return nii_initialise_flags ( nii, flags );
 }
 
-/**
- * Initialise UNDI and detect cable
- *
- * @v nii		NII NIC
- * @ret rc		Return status code
- */
-static int nii_initialise_and_detect ( struct nii_nic *nii ) {
-	unsigned int flags;
-
-	/* Initialise UNDI and detect cable.  This is required to work
-	 * around bugs in some Emulex NII drivers.
-	 */
-	flags = PXE_OPFLAGS_INITIALIZE_DETECT_CABLE;
-	return nii_initialise_flags ( nii, flags );
-}
-
 /**
  * Shut down UNDI
  *
@@ -968,20 +952,32 @@ static void nii_poll ( struct net_device *netdev ) {
  */
 static int nii_open ( struct net_device *netdev ) {
 	struct nii_nic *nii = netdev->priv;
+	unsigned int flags;
 	int rc;
 
 	/* Initialise NIC
+	 *
+	 * We don't care about link state here, and would prefer to
+	 * have the NIC initialise even if no cable is present, to
+	 * match the behaviour of all other iPXE drivers.
 	 *
 	 * Some Emulex NII drivers have a bug which prevents packets
 	 * from being sent or received unless we specifically ask it
-	 * to detect cable presence during initialisation.  Work
-	 * around these buggy drivers by requesting cable detection at
-	 * this point, even though we don't care about link state here
-	 * (and would prefer to have the NIC initialise even if no
-	 * cable is present, to match the behaviour of all other iPXE
-	 * drivers).
+	 * to detect cable presence during initialisation.
+	 *
+	 * Unfortunately, some other NII drivers (e.g. Mellanox) may
+	 * time out and report failure if asked to detect cable
+	 * presence during initialisation on links that are physically
+	 * slow to reach link-up.
+	 *
+	 * Attempt to work around both of these problems by requesting
+	 * cable detection at this point if any only if the driver is
+	 * not capable of reporting link status changes at runtime via
+	 * PXE_OPCODE_GET_STATUS.
 	 */
-	if ( ( rc = nii_initialise_and_detect ( nii ) ) != 0 )
+	flags = ( nii->media ? PXE_OPFLAGS_INITIALIZE_DO_NOT_DETECT_CABLE
+		  : PXE_OPFLAGS_INITIALIZE_DETECT_CABLE );
+	if ( ( rc = nii_initialise_flags ( nii, flags ) ) != 0 )
 		goto err_initialise;
 
 	/* Attempt to set station address */