diff --git a/include/nccl_ofi_rdma.h b/include/nccl_ofi_rdma.h
index dd8f25008..807b27659 100644
--- a/include/nccl_ofi_rdma.h
+++ b/include/nccl_ofi_rdma.h
@@ -498,6 +498,8 @@ typedef struct nccl_net_ofi_rdma_send_comm {
 	nccl_net_ofi_send_comm_t base;
 
 	uint64_t num_inflight_reqs;
+	uint64_t num_inflight_writes;
+
 	nccl_ofi_freelist_t *nccl_ofi_reqs_fl;
 
 	/* Comm ID provided by the local endpoint */
diff --git a/src/nccl_ofi_rdma.c b/src/nccl_ofi_rdma.c
index 9923e65b4..ce95fbdf2 100644
--- a/src/nccl_ofi_rdma.c
+++ b/src/nccl_ofi_rdma.c
@@ -2058,6 +2058,15 @@ static inline int free_write_req(nccl_net_ofi_rdma_req_t *req,
 	assert(req->type == NCCL_OFI_RDMA_WRITE);
 	nccl_net_ofi_rdma_send_comm_t *s_comm =
 		(nccl_net_ofi_rdma_send_comm_t *)req->comm;
+	/* free is going to be called inside of test(), which will
+	   happen in a time when NCCL guarantees no other thread will
+	   be accessing the communicator.  So no mutex protections are
+	   required if we do it here.  Better would be to do this as
+	   soon as we get the CQE for this request, but that would
+	   require atomics or locks, which isn't worth it today.  But
+	   if we ever refactor the locking strategy, we should revisit
+	   this. */
+	(s_comm->num_inflight_writes)--;
 	return free_base_req(&s_comm->num_inflight_reqs, s_comm->nccl_ofi_reqs_fl,
 			req, dec_inflight_reqs);
 }
@@ -5880,7 +5889,7 @@ static int send(nccl_net_ofi_send_comm_t *send_comm, void *data, int size, int t
 
 	/* Determine if this should be sent eagerly. */
 	eager = false;
-	if ((!have_ctrl && (size_t)size <= eager_max_size) || (size == 0)) {
+	if ((!have_ctrl && (size_t)size <= eager_max_size && s_comm->num_inflight_writes == 0) || (size == 0)) {
 		eager = true;
 	}
 
@@ -5920,6 +5929,10 @@ static int send(nccl_net_ofi_send_comm_t *send_comm, void *data, int size, int t
 	 */
 	(s_comm->num_inflight_reqs)++;
 
+	if (!eager) {
+		(s_comm->num_inflight_writes)++;
+	}
+
 	NCCL_OFI_TRACE_SEND(req->dev_id, size, s_comm, msg_seq_num, req, base_req);
 
 	/* Try posting RDMA write for received RDMA control messages */