diff --git a/package/base-files/files/sbin/wifi b/package/base-files/files/sbin/wifi
index 0d26468ba2f..51e10af1036 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/sbin/wifi
+++ b/package/base-files/files/sbin/wifi
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ set_wifi_up() {
 set_wifi_down() {
 	local cfg="$1"
 	local vifs vif vifstr
+	[ -f /var/state/wireless ] || return
+
 	config_get vifs "$cfg" vifs
 	for vif in $vifs; do
 		append vifstr "$vif" "|"