RHEL7 and kubernetes: kernel:unregister_netdevice: waiting for eth0 to become free. Usage count = 1

Issue

• We are trying to prototype kubernetes on top of RHEL and encounter the situation that the device seems to be frozen. There are repeated messages similar to:

[1331228.795391] unregister_netdevice: waiting for eth0 to become free. Usage count = 1
[1331238.871337] unregister_netdevice: waiting for eth0 to become free. Usage count = 1
[1331248.919329] unregister_netdevice: waiting for eth0 to become free. Usage count = 1
[1331258.964322] unregister_netdevice: waiting for eth0 to become free. Usage count = 1

• This problem occurs when scaling down pods in kubernetes. A reboot of the node is required to rectify.
• This has been seen after customers upgraded to a kernel with the fix for https://access.redhat.com/solutions/3105941 But after that the messages appear on ethX instead of lo.