diff --git a/net/rds/send.c b/net/rds/send.c
index bb13c56..0a6f38b 100644
--- a/net/rds/send.c
+++ b/net/rds/send.c
@@ -945,6 +945,11 @@ static int rds_cmsg_send(struct rds_sock *rs, struct rds_message *rm,
 			ret = rds_cmsg_rdma_map(rs, rm, cmsg);
 			if (!ret)
 				*allocated_mr = 1;
+			else if (ret == -ENODEV)
+				/* Accommodate the get_mr() case which can fail
+				 * if connection isn't established yet.
+				 */
+				ret = -EAGAIN;
 			break;
 		case RDS_CMSG_ATOMIC_CSWP:
 		case RDS_CMSG_ATOMIC_FADD:
@@ -1082,8 +1087,12 @@ int rds_sendmsg(struct socket *sock, struct msghdr *msg, size_t payload_len)
 
 	/* Parse any control messages the user may have included. */
 	ret = rds_cmsg_send(rs, rm, msg, &allocated_mr);
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret) {
+		/* Trigger connection so that its ready for the next retry */
+		if (ret ==  -EAGAIN)
+			rds_conn_connect_if_down(conn);
 		goto out;
+	}
 
 	if (rm->rdma.op_active && !conn->c_trans->xmit_rdma) {
 		printk_ratelimited(KERN_NOTICE "rdma_op %p conn xmit_rdma %p\n",