diff --git a/include/nccl_ofi_rdma.h b/include/nccl_ofi_rdma.h
index 5c391b513..7902fb2b7 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 65466806a..f6c2d9e9d 100644
--- a/src/nccl_ofi_rdma.c
+++ b/src/nccl_ofi_rdma.c
@@ -2074,6 +2074,18 @@ static inline int free_send_req(nccl_net_ofi_rdma_req_t *req,
 
 	send_data = get_send_data(req);
 
+	if (!send_data->eager) {
+		/* 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)--;
+	}
+
 	if (send_data->schedule) {
 		nccl_net_ofi_rdma_device_t *device = rdma_req_get_device(req);
 		nccl_net_ofi_release_schedule(device->scheduler, send_data->schedule);
@@ -5857,7 +5869,7 @@ 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;
 	}
 
@@ -5897,6 +5909,10 @@ 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 */
@@ -5958,6 +5974,7 @@ static int send_close_deferred(nccl_net_ofi_send_comm_t *send_comm)
 		ret = -EINVAL;
 		goto exit;
 	}
+	assert (s_comm->num_inflight_writes == 0);
 
 	s_comm->comm_active = false;