diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/io.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/io.c
index 11f7f16d7b79..cb7503a3e79c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/io.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/io.c
@@ -472,6 +472,12 @@ static void ovpn_send(struct ovpn_priv *ovpn, struct sk_buff *skb,
 	 * independently
 	 */
 	skb_list_walk_safe(skb, curr, next) {
+		/* encrypting this segment can hide the cost of fetching the
+		 * next segment's data into the cache
+		 */
+		if (next)
+			ovpn_skb_prefetchw(next);
+
 		if (unlikely(!ovpn_encrypt_one(peer, curr))) {
 			ovpn_dev_dstats_tx_dropped(ovpn->dev, 1);
 			kfree_skb(curr);