diff --git a/drivers/scsi/mpt2sas/mpt2sas_config.c b/drivers/scsi/mpt2sas/mpt2sas_config.c
index 58cfb97846f7e292a5c30a34b1e44c7cce876824..1c6658c60239a2ce0fde2d608cbb48abc0abae02 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/mpt2sas/mpt2sas_config.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/mpt2sas/mpt2sas_config.c
@@ -247,6 +247,12 @@ _config_request(struct MPT2SAS_ADAPTER *ioc, Mpi2ConfigRequest_t
 	retry_count = 0;
 
  retry_config:
+	if (retry_count) {
+		if (retry_count > 2) /* attempt only 2 retries */
+			return -EFAULT;
+		printk(MPT2SAS_INFO_FMT "%s: attempting retry (%d)\n",
+		    ioc->name, __func__, retry_count);
+	}
 	wait_state_count = 0;
 	ioc_state = mpt2sas_base_get_iocstate(ioc, 1);
 	while (ioc_state != MPI2_IOC_STATE_OPERATIONAL) {