diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.c
index 391bb7006e8f..2bdb1562bd21 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.c
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@ static int __send_message(struct bnxt_qplib_rcfw *rcfw, struct cmdq_base *req,
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	if (test_bit(FIRMWARE_TIMED_OUT, &rcfw->flags))
+		return -ETIMEDOUT;
+
 	/* Cmdq are in 16-byte units, each request can consume 1 or more
 	 * cmdqe
 	 */
@@ -226,6 +229,7 @@ int bnxt_qplib_rcfw_send_message(struct bnxt_qplib_rcfw *rcfw,
 		/* timed out */
 		dev_err(&rcfw->pdev->dev, "QPLIB: cmdq[%#x]=%#x timedout (%d)msec",
 			cookie, opcode, RCFW_CMD_WAIT_TIME_MS);
+		set_bit(FIRMWARE_TIMED_OUT, &rcfw->flags);
 		return rc;
 	}
 
diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.h b/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.h
index 0ed312f17c8d..85b16da287f9 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.h
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_rcfw.h
@@ -162,8 +162,9 @@ struct bnxt_qplib_rcfw {
 	unsigned long		*cmdq_bitmap;
 	u32			bmap_size;
 	unsigned long		flags;
-#define FIRMWARE_INITIALIZED_FLAG	1
+#define FIRMWARE_INITIALIZED_FLAG	BIT(0)
 #define FIRMWARE_FIRST_FLAG		BIT(31)
+#define FIRMWARE_TIMED_OUT		BIT(3)
 	wait_queue_head_t	waitq;
 	int			(*aeq_handler)(struct bnxt_qplib_rcfw *,
 					       struct creq_func_event *);