diff --git a/drivers/net/cnic.c b/drivers/net/cnic.c
index 3a7d3ce6db7b48ca119ac86d672305d18683c29d..9f80fb40380a09e8c875e4b73e88ec8ba5b86c92 100644
--- a/drivers/net/cnic.c
+++ b/drivers/net/cnic.c
@@ -279,6 +279,7 @@ static int cnic_send_nlmsg(struct cnic_local *cp, u32 type,
 	u32 msg_type = ISCSI_KEVENT_IF_DOWN;
 	struct cnic_ulp_ops *ulp_ops;
 	struct cnic_uio_dev *udev = cp->udev;
+	int rc = 0, retry = 0;
 
 	if (!udev || udev->uio_dev == -1)
 		return -ENODEV;
@@ -303,11 +304,21 @@ static int cnic_send_nlmsg(struct cnic_local *cp, u32 type,
 		path_req.pmtu = csk->mtu;
 	}
 
-	rcu_read_lock();
-	ulp_ops = rcu_dereference(cnic_ulp_tbl[CNIC_ULP_ISCSI]);
-	if (ulp_ops)
-		ulp_ops->iscsi_nl_send_msg(cp->dev, msg_type, buf, len);
-	rcu_read_unlock();
+	while (retry < 3) {
+		rc = 0;
+		rcu_read_lock();
+		ulp_ops = rcu_dereference(cnic_ulp_tbl[CNIC_ULP_ISCSI]);
+		if (ulp_ops)
+			rc = ulp_ops->iscsi_nl_send_msg(
+				cp->ulp_handle[CNIC_ULP_ISCSI],
+				msg_type, buf, len);
+		rcu_read_unlock();
+		if (rc == 0 || msg_type != ISCSI_KEVENT_PATH_REQ)
+			break;
+
+		msleep(100);
+		retry++;
+	}
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/cnic_if.h b/drivers/net/cnic_if.h
index 0dbeaec4f03a6888ac22dc350c2c2e2e0c49001e..33333e735f95d48c91b7c6c3ca2e656a9a6d3dfe 100644
--- a/drivers/net/cnic_if.h
+++ b/drivers/net/cnic_if.h
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ struct cnic_ulp_ops {
 	void (*cm_abort_complete)(struct cnic_sock *);
 	void (*cm_remote_close)(struct cnic_sock *);
 	void (*cm_remote_abort)(struct cnic_sock *);
-	void (*iscsi_nl_send_msg)(struct cnic_dev *dev, u32 msg_type,
+	int (*iscsi_nl_send_msg)(void *ulp_ctx, u32 msg_type,
 				  char *data, u16 data_size);
 	struct module *owner;
 	atomic_t ref_count;
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/bnx2i/bnx2i_hwi.c b/drivers/scsi/bnx2i/bnx2i_hwi.c
index 8d9dbb33972f2d63cd5d7f336f6e4afdbb8e2ca0..2f9622ebbd84d01cffbd31ea5a1984927451a800 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/bnx2i/bnx2i_hwi.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/bnx2i/bnx2i_hwi.c
@@ -2346,19 +2346,21 @@ static void bnx2i_cm_remote_abort(struct cnic_sock *cm_sk)
 }
 
 
-static void bnx2i_send_nl_mesg(struct cnic_dev *dev, u32 msg_type,
+static int bnx2i_send_nl_mesg(void *context, u32 msg_type,
 			       char *buf, u16 buflen)
 {
-	struct bnx2i_hba *hba;
+	struct bnx2i_hba *hba = context;
+	int rc;
 
-	hba = bnx2i_find_hba_for_cnic(dev);
 	if (!hba)
-		return;
+		return -ENODEV;
 
-	if (iscsi_offload_mesg(hba->shost, &bnx2i_iscsi_transport,
-				   msg_type, buf, buflen))
+	rc = iscsi_offload_mesg(hba->shost, &bnx2i_iscsi_transport,
+				msg_type, buf, buflen);
+	if (rc)
 		printk(KERN_ALERT "bnx2i: private nl message send error\n");
 
+	return rc;
 }