diff --git a/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/chip.c b/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/chip.c
index 0b07b364f666..456704e9629a 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/chip.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/chip.c
@@ -7785,6 +7785,17 @@ void hfi1_rcvctrl(struct hfi1_devdata *dd, unsigned int op, int ctxt)
 	}
 	if (op & HFI1_RCVCTRL_CTXT_DIS) {
 		write_csr(dd, RCV_VL15, 0);
+		/*
+		 * When receive context is being disabled turn on tail
+		 * update with a dummy tail address and then disable
+		 * receive context.
+		 */
+		if (dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_physaddr) {
+			write_kctxt_csr(dd, ctxt, RCV_HDR_TAIL_ADDR,
+					dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_physaddr);
+			rcvctrl |= RCV_CTXT_CTRL_TAIL_UPD_SMASK;
+		}
+
 		rcvctrl &= ~RCV_CTXT_CTRL_ENABLE_SMASK;
 	}
 	if (op & HFI1_RCVCTRL_INTRAVAIL_ENB)
@@ -7854,10 +7865,11 @@ void hfi1_rcvctrl(struct hfi1_devdata *dd, unsigned int op, int ctxt)
 	if (op & (HFI1_RCVCTRL_TAILUPD_DIS | HFI1_RCVCTRL_CTXT_DIS))
 		/*
 		 * If the context has been disabled and the Tail Update has
-		 * been cleared, clear the RCV_HDR_TAIL_ADDR CSR so
-		 * it doesn't contain an address that is invalid.
+		 * been cleared, set the RCV_HDR_TAIL_ADDR CSR to dummy address
+		 * so it doesn't contain an address that is invalid.
 		 */
-		write_kctxt_csr(dd, ctxt, RCV_HDR_TAIL_ADDR, 0);
+		write_kctxt_csr(dd, ctxt, RCV_HDR_TAIL_ADDR,
+				dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_physaddr);
 }
 
 u32 hfi1_read_cntrs(struct hfi1_devdata *dd, loff_t pos, char **namep,
diff --git a/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/hfi.h b/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/hfi.h
index 70891fbf89b0..1fd12411463c 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/hfi.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/hfi.h
@@ -1071,6 +1071,10 @@ struct hfi1_devdata {
 	/* Save the enabled LCB error bits */
 	u64 lcb_err_en;
 	u8 dc_shutdown;
+
+	/* receive context tail dummy address */
+	__le64 *rcvhdrtail_dummy_kvaddr;
+	dma_addr_t rcvhdrtail_dummy_physaddr;
 };
 
 /* 8051 firmware version helper */
diff --git a/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/init.c b/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/init.c
index 635996742480..c17cef6938fb 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/init.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/rdma/hfi1/init.c
@@ -692,6 +692,18 @@ int hfi1_init(struct hfi1_devdata *dd, int reinit)
 	if (ret)
 		goto done;
 
+	/* allocate dummy tail memory for all receive contexts */
+	dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_kvaddr = dma_zalloc_coherent(
+		&dd->pcidev->dev, sizeof(u64),
+		&dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_physaddr,
+		GFP_KERNEL);
+
+	if (!dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_kvaddr) {
+		dd_dev_err(dd, "cannot allocate dummy tail memory\n");
+		ret = -ENOMEM;
+		goto done;
+	}
+
 	/* dd->rcd can be NULL if early initialization failed */
 	for (i = 0; dd->rcd && i < dd->first_user_ctxt; ++i) {
 		/*
@@ -1267,6 +1279,14 @@ static void cleanup_device_data(struct hfi1_devdata *dd)
 	tmp = dd->rcd;
 	dd->rcd = NULL;
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&dd->uctxt_lock, flags);
+
+	if (dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_kvaddr) {
+		dma_free_coherent(&dd->pcidev->dev, sizeof(u64),
+				  (void *)dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_kvaddr,
+				  dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_physaddr);
+				  dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_kvaddr = NULL;
+	}
+
 	for (ctxt = 0; tmp && ctxt < dd->num_rcv_contexts; ctxt++) {
 		struct hfi1_ctxtdata *rcd = tmp[ctxt];
 
@@ -1522,6 +1542,14 @@ int hfi1_create_rcvhdrq(struct hfi1_devdata *dd, struct hfi1_ctxtdata *rcd)
 	reg = (dd->rcvhdrsize & RCV_HDR_SIZE_HDR_SIZE_MASK)
 		<< RCV_HDR_SIZE_HDR_SIZE_SHIFT;
 	write_kctxt_csr(dd, rcd->ctxt, RCV_HDR_SIZE, reg);
+
+	/*
+	 * Program dummy tail address for every receive context
+	 * before enabling any receive context
+	 */
+	write_kctxt_csr(dd, rcd->ctxt, RCV_HDR_TAIL_ADDR,
+			dd->rcvhdrtail_dummy_physaddr);
+
 	return 0;
 
 bail_free: