diff --git a/Documentation/networking/smc-sysctl.rst b/Documentation/networking/smc-sysctl.rst
index 337ac2be167e..904a910f198e 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/smc-sysctl.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/smc-sysctl.rst
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ smcr_max_send_wr - INTEGER
 
 	Please be aware that all the buffers need to be allocated as a physically
 	continuous array in which each element is a single buffer and has the size
-	of SMC_WR_BUF_SIZE (48) bytes. If the allocation fails we give up much
+	of SMC_WR_BUF_SIZE (48) bytes. If the allocation fails, we keep retrying
+	with half of the buffer count until it is ether successful or (unlikely)
+	we dip below the old hard coded value which is 16 where we give up much
 	like before having this control.
 
 	Default: 16
@@ -103,7 +105,9 @@ smcr_max_recv_wr - INTEGER
 
 	Please be aware that all the buffers need to be allocated as a physically
 	continuous array in which each element is a single buffer and has the size
-	of SMC_WR_BUF_SIZE (48) bytes. If the allocation fails we give up much
+	of SMC_WR_BUF_SIZE (48) bytes. If the allocation fails, we keep retrying
+	with half of the buffer count until it is ether successful or (unlikely)
+	we dip below the old hard coded value which is 16 where we give up much
 	like before having this control.
 
 	Default: 48
diff --git a/net/smc/smc_core.c b/net/smc/smc_core.c
index be0c2da83d2b..e4eabc83719e 100644
--- a/net/smc/smc_core.c
+++ b/net/smc/smc_core.c
@@ -810,6 +810,8 @@ int smcr_link_init(struct smc_link_group *lgr, struct smc_link *lnk,
 	lnk->clearing = 0;
 	lnk->path_mtu = lnk->smcibdev->pattr[lnk->ibport - 1].active_mtu;
 	lnk->link_id = smcr_next_link_id(lgr);
+	lnk->max_send_wr = lgr->max_send_wr;
+	lnk->max_recv_wr = lgr->max_recv_wr;
 	lnk->lgr = lgr;
 	smc_lgr_hold(lgr); /* lgr_put in smcr_link_clear() */
 	lnk->link_idx = link_idx;
@@ -836,27 +838,39 @@ int smcr_link_init(struct smc_link_group *lgr, struct smc_link *lnk,
 	rc = smc_llc_link_init(lnk);
 	if (rc)
 		goto out;
-	rc = smc_wr_alloc_link_mem(lnk);
-	if (rc)
-		goto clear_llc_lnk;
 	rc = smc_ib_create_protection_domain(lnk);
 	if (rc)
-		goto free_link_mem;
-	rc = smc_ib_create_queue_pair(lnk);
-	if (rc)
-		goto dealloc_pd;
+		goto clear_llc_lnk;
+	do {
+		rc = smc_ib_create_queue_pair(lnk);
+		if (rc)
+			goto dealloc_pd;
+		rc = smc_wr_alloc_link_mem(lnk);
+		if (!rc)
+			break;
+		else if (rc != -ENOMEM) /* give up */
+			goto destroy_qp;
+		/* retry with smaller ... */
+		lnk->max_send_wr /= 2;
+		lnk->max_recv_wr /= 2;
+		/* ... unless droping below old SMC_WR_BUF_SIZE */
+		if (lnk->max_send_wr < 16 || lnk->max_recv_wr < 48)
+			goto destroy_qp;
+		smc_ib_destroy_queue_pair(lnk);
+	} while (1);
+
 	rc = smc_wr_create_link(lnk);
 	if (rc)
-		goto destroy_qp;
+		goto free_link_mem;
 	lnk->state = SMC_LNK_ACTIVATING;
 	return 0;
 
+free_link_mem:
+	smc_wr_free_link_mem(lnk);
 destroy_qp:
 	smc_ib_destroy_queue_pair(lnk);
 dealloc_pd:
 	smc_ib_dealloc_protection_domain(lnk);
-free_link_mem:
-	smc_wr_free_link_mem(lnk);
 clear_llc_lnk:
 	smc_llc_link_clear(lnk, false);
 out:
diff --git a/net/smc/smc_core.h b/net/smc/smc_core.h
index 8d06c8bb14e9..5c18f08a4c8a 100644
--- a/net/smc/smc_core.h
+++ b/net/smc/smc_core.h
@@ -175,6 +175,8 @@ struct smc_link {
 	struct completion	llc_testlink_resp; /* wait for rx of testlink */
 	int			llc_testlink_time; /* testlink interval */
 	atomic_t		conn_cnt; /* connections on this link */
+	u16			max_send_wr;
+	u16			max_recv_wr;
 };
 
 /* For now we just allow one parallel link per link group. The SMC protocol
diff --git a/net/smc/smc_wr.c b/net/smc/smc_wr.c
index 883fb0f1ce43..5feafa98ab1a 100644
--- a/net/smc/smc_wr.c
+++ b/net/smc/smc_wr.c
@@ -547,9 +547,9 @@ void smc_wr_remember_qp_attr(struct smc_link *lnk)
 		    IB_QP_DEST_QPN,
 		    &init_attr);
 
-	lnk->wr_tx_cnt = min_t(size_t, lnk->lgr->max_send_wr,
+	lnk->wr_tx_cnt = min_t(size_t, lnk->max_send_wr,
 			       lnk->qp_attr.cap.max_send_wr);
-	lnk->wr_rx_cnt = min_t(size_t, lnk->lgr->max_recv_wr,
+	lnk->wr_rx_cnt = min_t(size_t, lnk->max_recv_wr,
 			       lnk->qp_attr.cap.max_recv_wr);
 }
 
@@ -741,51 +741,51 @@ int smc_wr_alloc_lgr_mem(struct smc_link_group *lgr)
 int smc_wr_alloc_link_mem(struct smc_link *link)
 {
 	/* allocate link related memory */
-	link->wr_tx_bufs = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr,
+	link->wr_tx_bufs = kcalloc(link->max_send_wr,
 				   SMC_WR_BUF_SIZE, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_bufs)
 		goto no_mem;
-	link->wr_rx_bufs = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_recv_wr, link->wr_rx_buflen,
+	link->wr_rx_bufs = kcalloc(link->max_recv_wr, link->wr_rx_buflen,
 				   GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_rx_bufs)
 		goto no_mem_wr_tx_bufs;
-	link->wr_tx_ibs = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr,
+	link->wr_tx_ibs = kcalloc(link->max_send_wr,
 				  sizeof(link->wr_tx_ibs[0]), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_ibs)
 		goto no_mem_wr_rx_bufs;
-	link->wr_rx_ibs = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_recv_wr,
+	link->wr_rx_ibs = kcalloc(link->max_recv_wr,
 				  sizeof(link->wr_rx_ibs[0]),
 				  GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_rx_ibs)
 		goto no_mem_wr_tx_ibs;
-	link->wr_tx_rdmas = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr,
+	link->wr_tx_rdmas = kcalloc(link->max_send_wr,
 				    sizeof(link->wr_tx_rdmas[0]),
 				    GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_rdmas)
 		goto no_mem_wr_rx_ibs;
-	link->wr_tx_rdma_sges = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr,
+	link->wr_tx_rdma_sges = kcalloc(link->max_send_wr,
 					sizeof(link->wr_tx_rdma_sges[0]),
 					GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_rdma_sges)
 		goto no_mem_wr_tx_rdmas;
-	link->wr_tx_sges = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr, sizeof(link->wr_tx_sges[0]),
+	link->wr_tx_sges = kcalloc(link->max_send_wr, sizeof(link->wr_tx_sges[0]),
 				   GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_sges)
 		goto no_mem_wr_tx_rdma_sges;
-	link->wr_rx_sges = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_recv_wr,
+	link->wr_rx_sges = kcalloc(link->max_recv_wr,
 				   sizeof(link->wr_rx_sges[0]) * link->wr_rx_sge_cnt,
 				   GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_rx_sges)
 		goto no_mem_wr_tx_sges;
-	link->wr_tx_mask = bitmap_zalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr, GFP_KERNEL);
+	link->wr_tx_mask = bitmap_zalloc(link->max_send_wr, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_mask)
 		goto no_mem_wr_rx_sges;
-	link->wr_tx_pends = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr,
+	link->wr_tx_pends = kcalloc(link->max_send_wr,
 				    sizeof(link->wr_tx_pends[0]),
 				    GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_pends)
 		goto no_mem_wr_tx_mask;
-	link->wr_tx_compl = kcalloc(link->lgr->max_send_wr,
+	link->wr_tx_compl = kcalloc(link->max_send_wr,
 				    sizeof(link->wr_tx_compl[0]),
 				    GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!link->wr_tx_compl)
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ int smc_wr_create_link(struct smc_link *lnk)
 		goto dma_unmap;
 	}
 	smc_wr_init_sge(lnk);
-	bitmap_zero(lnk->wr_tx_mask, lnk->lgr->max_send_wr);
+	bitmap_zero(lnk->wr_tx_mask, lnk->max_send_wr);
 	init_waitqueue_head(&lnk->wr_tx_wait);
 	rc = percpu_ref_init(&lnk->wr_tx_refs, smcr_wr_tx_refs_free, 0, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (rc)