diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c b/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c
index 28bd255..24397d3 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c
@@ -753,28 +753,26 @@ static void nvme_rdma_reconnect_ctrl_work(struct work_struct *work)
 	if (ret)
 		goto requeue;
 
-	blk_mq_start_stopped_hw_queues(ctrl->ctrl.admin_q, true);
-
 	ret = nvmf_connect_admin_queue(&ctrl->ctrl);
 	if (ret)
-		goto stop_admin_q;
+		goto requeue;
 
 	set_bit(NVME_RDMA_Q_LIVE, &ctrl->queues[0].flags);
 
 	ret = nvme_enable_ctrl(&ctrl->ctrl, ctrl->cap);
 	if (ret)
-		goto stop_admin_q;
+		goto requeue;
 
 	nvme_start_keep_alive(&ctrl->ctrl);
 
 	if (ctrl->queue_count > 1) {
 		ret = nvme_rdma_init_io_queues(ctrl);
 		if (ret)
-			goto stop_admin_q;
+			goto requeue;
 
 		ret = nvme_rdma_connect_io_queues(ctrl);
 		if (ret)
-			goto stop_admin_q;
+			goto requeue;
 	}
 
 	changed = nvme_change_ctrl_state(&ctrl->ctrl, NVME_CTRL_LIVE);
@@ -782,7 +780,6 @@ static void nvme_rdma_reconnect_ctrl_work(struct work_struct *work)
 	ctrl->ctrl.opts->nr_reconnects = 0;
 
 	if (ctrl->queue_count > 1) {
-		nvme_start_queues(&ctrl->ctrl);
 		nvme_queue_scan(&ctrl->ctrl);
 		nvme_queue_async_events(&ctrl->ctrl);
 	}
@@ -791,8 +788,6 @@ static void nvme_rdma_reconnect_ctrl_work(struct work_struct *work)
 
 	return;
 
-stop_admin_q:
-	blk_mq_stop_hw_queues(ctrl->ctrl.admin_q);
 requeue:
 	dev_info(ctrl->ctrl.device, "Failed reconnect attempt %d\n",
 			ctrl->ctrl.opts->nr_reconnects);
@@ -823,6 +818,13 @@ static void nvme_rdma_error_recovery_work(struct work_struct *work)
 	blk_mq_tagset_busy_iter(&ctrl->admin_tag_set,
 				nvme_cancel_request, &ctrl->ctrl);
 
+	/*
+	 * queues are not a live anymore, so restart the queues to fail fast
+	 * new IO
+	 */
+	blk_mq_start_stopped_hw_queues(ctrl->ctrl.admin_q, true);
+	nvme_start_queues(&ctrl->ctrl);
+
 	nvme_rdma_reconnect_or_remove(ctrl);
 }
 
@@ -1433,7 +1435,7 @@ nvme_rdma_timeout(struct request *rq, bool reserved)
 /*
  * We cannot accept any other command until the Connect command has completed.
  */
-static inline bool nvme_rdma_queue_is_ready(struct nvme_rdma_queue *queue,
+static inline int nvme_rdma_queue_is_ready(struct nvme_rdma_queue *queue,
 		struct request *rq)
 {
 	if (unlikely(!test_bit(NVME_RDMA_Q_LIVE, &queue->flags))) {
@@ -1441,11 +1443,22 @@ static inline bool nvme_rdma_queue_is_ready(struct nvme_rdma_queue *queue,
 
 		if (!blk_rq_is_passthrough(rq) ||
 		    cmd->common.opcode != nvme_fabrics_command ||
-		    cmd->fabrics.fctype != nvme_fabrics_type_connect)
-			return false;
+		    cmd->fabrics.fctype != nvme_fabrics_type_connect) {
+			/*
+			 * reconnecting state means transport disruption, which
+			 * can take a long time and even might fail permanently,
+			 * so we can't let incoming I/O be requeued forever.
+			 * fail it fast to allow upper layers a chance to
+			 * failover.
+			 */
+			if (queue->ctrl->ctrl.state == NVME_CTRL_RECONNECTING)
+				return -EIO;
+			else
+				return -EAGAIN;
+		}
 	}
 
-	return true;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int nvme_rdma_queue_rq(struct blk_mq_hw_ctx *hctx,
@@ -1463,8 +1476,9 @@ static int nvme_rdma_queue_rq(struct blk_mq_hw_ctx *hctx,
 
 	WARN_ON_ONCE(rq->tag < 0);
 
-	if (!nvme_rdma_queue_is_ready(queue, rq))
-		return BLK_MQ_RQ_QUEUE_BUSY;
+	ret = nvme_rdma_queue_is_ready(queue, rq);
+	if (unlikely(ret))
+		goto err;
 
 	dev = queue->device->dev;
 	ib_dma_sync_single_for_cpu(dev, sqe->dma,