diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_rule.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_rule.c
index 042ca0349124332ab875d11b9c8112b9b1173de4..d1db04baa1fa6f01a297879dd383aa42ace22a6e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_rule.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/steering/dr_rule.c
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 /* don't try to optimize STE allocation if the stack is too constaraining */
 #define DR_RULE_MAX_STES_OPTIMIZED 0
 #else
-#define DR_RULE_MAX_STES_OPTIMIZED 5
+#define DR_RULE_MAX_STES_OPTIMIZED 2
 #endif
 #define DR_RULE_MAX_STE_CHAIN_OPTIMIZED (DR_RULE_MAX_STES_OPTIMIZED + DR_ACTION_MAX_STES)