diff --git a/net/rds/tcp_connect.c b/net/rds/tcp_connect.c
index 5cb1687..49a3fcf 100644
--- a/net/rds/tcp_connect.c
+++ b/net/rds/tcp_connect.c
@@ -78,7 +78,14 @@
 	struct socket *sock = NULL;
 	struct sockaddr_in src, dest;
 	int ret;
+	struct rds_tcp_connection *tc = conn->c_transport_data;
 
+	mutex_lock(&tc->t_conn_lock);
+
+	if (rds_conn_up(conn)) {
+		mutex_unlock(&tc->t_conn_lock);
+		return 0;
+	}
 	ret = sock_create_kern(rds_conn_net(conn), PF_INET,
 			       SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP, &sock);
 	if (ret < 0)
@@ -120,6 +127,7 @@
 	}
 
 out:
+	mutex_unlock(&tc->t_conn_lock);
 	if (sock)
 		sock_release(sock);
 	return ret;