diff --git a/drivers/scsi/libiscsi.c b/drivers/scsi/libiscsi.c
index 33c74d3436c9..6bffd91b973a 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/libiscsi.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/libiscsi.c
@@ -976,13 +976,13 @@ static void iscsi_tmf_rsp(struct iscsi_conn *conn, struct iscsi_hdr *hdr)
 	wake_up(&conn->ehwait);
 }
 
-static void iscsi_send_nopout(struct iscsi_conn *conn, struct iscsi_nopin *rhdr)
+static int iscsi_send_nopout(struct iscsi_conn *conn, struct iscsi_nopin *rhdr)
 {
         struct iscsi_nopout hdr;
 	struct iscsi_task *task;
 
 	if (!rhdr && conn->ping_task)
-		return;
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	memset(&hdr, 0, sizeof(struct iscsi_nopout));
 	hdr.opcode = ISCSI_OP_NOOP_OUT | ISCSI_OP_IMMEDIATE;
@@ -996,13 +996,16 @@ static void iscsi_send_nopout(struct iscsi_conn *conn, struct iscsi_nopin *rhdr)
 		hdr.ttt = RESERVED_ITT;
 
 	task = __iscsi_conn_send_pdu(conn, (struct iscsi_hdr *)&hdr, NULL, 0);
-	if (!task)
+	if (!task) {
 		iscsi_conn_printk(KERN_ERR, conn, "Could not send nopout\n");
-	else if (!rhdr) {
+		return -EIO;
+	} else if (!rhdr) {
 		/* only track our nops */
 		conn->ping_task = task;
 		conn->last_ping = jiffies;
 	}
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int iscsi_nop_out_rsp(struct iscsi_task *task,
@@ -2092,8 +2095,10 @@ static void iscsi_check_transport_timeouts(unsigned long data)
 	if (time_before_eq(last_recv + recv_timeout, jiffies)) {
 		/* send a ping to try to provoke some traffic */
 		ISCSI_DBG_CONN(conn, "Sending nopout as ping\n");
-		iscsi_send_nopout(conn, NULL);
-		next_timeout = conn->last_ping + (conn->ping_timeout * HZ);
+		if (iscsi_send_nopout(conn, NULL))
+			next_timeout = jiffies + (1 * HZ);
+		else
+			next_timeout = conn->last_ping + (conn->ping_timeout * HZ);
 	} else
 		next_timeout = last_recv + recv_timeout;