diff --git a/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_gbl.h b/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_gbl.h
index b51ce8f59cb9..ca2f660a5438 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_gbl.h
+++ b/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_gbl.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ extern void qla2x00_update_fcport(scsi_qla_host_t *, fc_port_t *);
 extern void qla2x00_reg_remote_port(scsi_qla_host_t *, fc_port_t *);
 
 extern void qla2x00_alloc_fw_dump(scsi_qla_host_t *);
+extern void qla2x00_try_to_stop_firmware(scsi_qla_host_t *);
 
 /*
  * Global Data in qla_os.c source file.
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_init.c b/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_init.c
index d5e0a124c4f4..08cb5e3fb553 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_init.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_init.c
@@ -3948,3 +3948,24 @@ qla24xx_load_risc(scsi_qla_host_t *ha, uint32_t *srisc_addr)
 fail_fw_integrity:
 	return QLA_FUNCTION_FAILED;
 }
+
+void
+qla2x00_try_to_stop_firmware(scsi_qla_host_t *ha)
+{
+	int ret, retries;
+
+	if (!IS_QLA24XX(ha) && !IS_QLA54XX(ha))
+		return;
+
+	ret = qla2x00_stop_firmware(ha);
+	for (retries = 5; ret != QLA_SUCCESS && retries ; retries--) {
+		qla2x00_reset_chip(ha);
+		if (qla2x00_chip_diag(ha) != QLA_SUCCESS)
+			continue;
+		if (qla2x00_setup_chip(ha) != QLA_SUCCESS)
+			continue;
+		qla_printk(KERN_INFO, ha,
+		    "Attempting retry of stop-firmware command...\n");
+		ret = qla2x00_stop_firmware(ha);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_os.c b/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_os.c
index 34b6eb71e450..54f561d9c7a7 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_os.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_os.c
@@ -1712,8 +1712,10 @@ qla2x00_free_device(scsi_qla_host_t *ha)
 	if (ha->eft)
 		qla2x00_trace_control(ha, TC_DISABLE, 0, 0);
 
+	ha->flags.online = 0;
+
 	/* Stop currently executing firmware. */
-	qla2x00_stop_firmware(ha);
+	qla2x00_try_to_stop_firmware(ha);
 
 	/* turn-off interrupts on the card */
 	if (ha->interrupts_on)
@@ -1721,8 +1723,6 @@ qla2x00_free_device(scsi_qla_host_t *ha)
 
 	qla2x00_mem_free(ha);
 
-	ha->flags.online = 0;
-
 	/* Detach interrupts */
 	if (ha->host->irq)
 		free_irq(ha->host->irq, ha);