diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/pio.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/pio.c
index 752057647f091734368f998c0173234d8a1f2dd0..3fcbf56f8be23da344294e400fb30035fe7c0c14 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/pio.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/pio.c
@@ -1434,7 +1434,8 @@ void sc_stop(struct send_context *sc, int flag)
  * @cb: optional callback to call when the buffer is finished sending
  * @arg: argument for cb
  *
- * Return a pointer to a PIO buffer if successful, NULL if not enough room.
+ * Return a pointer to a PIO buffer, NULL if not enough room, -ECOMM
+ * when link is down.
  */
 struct pio_buf *sc_buffer_alloc(struct send_context *sc, u32 dw_len,
 				pio_release_cb cb, void *arg)
@@ -1450,7 +1451,7 @@ struct pio_buf *sc_buffer_alloc(struct send_context *sc, u32 dw_len,
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&sc->alloc_lock, flags);
 	if (!(sc->flags & SCF_ENABLED)) {
 		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&sc->alloc_lock, flags);
-		goto done;
+		return ERR_PTR(-ECOMM);
 	}
 
 retry:
diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/rc.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/rc.c
index 980168a56707142a2f9f1fef8ee9ef84f352e803..7ed6fb407a689243cb55778ea4d8ca7c1f41ec7a 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/rc.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/rc.c
@@ -914,7 +914,7 @@ void hfi1_send_rc_ack(struct hfi1_packet *packet, bool is_fecn)
 	pbc = create_pbc(ppd, pbc_flags, qp->srate_mbps,
 			 sc_to_vlt(ppd->dd, sc5), plen);
 	pbuf = sc_buffer_alloc(rcd->sc, plen, NULL, NULL);
-	if (!pbuf) {
+	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(pbuf)) {
 		/*
 		 * We have no room to send at the moment.  Pass
 		 * responsibility for sending the ACK to the send engine
diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/ud.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/ud.c
index ef5b3ffd3888b440569e3013bba2e96962312641..839593641e3fd4eb7ab131a84d0f373f22955bac 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/ud.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/ud.c
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ void return_cnp_16B(struct hfi1_ibport *ibp, struct rvt_qp *qp,
 	pbc = create_pbc(ppd, pbc_flags, qp->srate_mbps, vl, plen);
 	if (ctxt) {
 		pbuf = sc_buffer_alloc(ctxt, plen, NULL, NULL);
-		if (pbuf) {
+		if (!IS_ERR_OR_NULL(pbuf)) {
 			trace_pio_output_ibhdr(ppd->dd, &hdr, sc5);
 			ppd->dd->pio_inline_send(ppd->dd, pbuf, pbc,
 						 &hdr, hwords);
@@ -758,7 +758,7 @@ void return_cnp(struct hfi1_ibport *ibp, struct rvt_qp *qp, u32 remote_qpn,
 	pbc = create_pbc(ppd, pbc_flags, qp->srate_mbps, vl, plen);
 	if (ctxt) {
 		pbuf = sc_buffer_alloc(ctxt, plen, NULL, NULL);
-		if (pbuf) {
+		if (!IS_ERR_OR_NULL(pbuf)) {
 			trace_pio_output_ibhdr(ppd->dd, &hdr, sc5);
 			ppd->dd->pio_inline_send(ppd->dd, pbuf, pbc,
 						 &hdr, hwords);
diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/verbs.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/verbs.c
index 4e7b3c027901bd21fec925ef029cb471a1cc887c..90e12f9433a39e42563d5dbdd2ed5876833ad70c 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/verbs.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/verbs.c
@@ -1096,10 +1096,10 @@ int hfi1_verbs_send_pio(struct rvt_qp *qp, struct hfi1_pkt_state *ps,
 	if (cb)
 		iowait_pio_inc(&priv->s_iowait);
 	pbuf = sc_buffer_alloc(sc, plen, cb, qp);
-	if (unlikely(!pbuf)) {
+	if (unlikely(IS_ERR_OR_NULL(pbuf))) {
 		if (cb)
 			verbs_pio_complete(qp, 0);
-		if (ppd->host_link_state != HLS_UP_ACTIVE) {
+		if (IS_ERR(pbuf)) {
 			/*
 			 * If we have filled the PIO buffers to capacity and are
 			 * not in an active state this request is not going to