diff --git a/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c b/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c
index 28a34cf117dc4e11fe71af4d0021f7660f4d755b..49e5dadd5733de42bff073b9c9a99d32015f01df 100644
--- a/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c
+++ b/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ static void tx_tick(struct mbox_chan *chan, int r)
 	if (mssg && chan->cl->tx_done)
 		chan->cl->tx_done(chan->cl, mssg, r);
 
-	if (chan->cl->tx_block)
+	if (r != -ETIME && chan->cl->tx_block)
 		complete(&chan->tx_complete);
 }
 
@@ -271,8 +271,8 @@ int mbox_send_message(struct mbox_chan *chan, void *mssg)
 
 		ret = wait_for_completion_timeout(&chan->tx_complete, wait);
 		if (ret == 0) {
-			t = -EIO;
-			tx_tick(chan, -EIO);
+			t = -ETIME;
+			tx_tick(chan, t);
 		}
 	}