diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c b/drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c
index d58a6e2a4ab1..dbb661b899ef 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c
@@ -465,6 +465,7 @@ static void nvme_tcp_error_recovery(struct nvme_ctrl *ctrl)
 	if (!nvme_change_ctrl_state(ctrl, NVME_CTRL_RESETTING))
 		return;
 
+	dev_warn(ctrl->device, "starting error recovery\n");
 	queue_work(nvme_reset_wq, &to_tcp_ctrl(ctrl)->err_work);
 }
 
@@ -2155,40 +2156,55 @@ static void nvme_tcp_submit_async_event(struct nvme_ctrl *arg)
 	nvme_tcp_queue_request(&ctrl->async_req, true, true);
 }
 
+static void nvme_tcp_complete_timed_out(struct request *rq)
+{
+	struct nvme_tcp_request *req = blk_mq_rq_to_pdu(rq);
+	struct nvme_ctrl *ctrl = &req->queue->ctrl->ctrl;
+
+	/* fence other contexts that may complete the command */
+	mutex_lock(&to_tcp_ctrl(ctrl)->teardown_lock);
+	nvme_tcp_stop_queue(ctrl, nvme_tcp_queue_id(req->queue));
+	if (!blk_mq_request_completed(rq)) {
+		nvme_req(rq)->status = NVME_SC_HOST_ABORTED_CMD;
+		blk_mq_complete_request(rq);
+	}
+	mutex_unlock(&to_tcp_ctrl(ctrl)->teardown_lock);
+}
+
 static enum blk_eh_timer_return
 nvme_tcp_timeout(struct request *rq, bool reserved)
 {
 	struct nvme_tcp_request *req = blk_mq_rq_to_pdu(rq);
-	struct nvme_tcp_ctrl *ctrl = req->queue->ctrl;
+	struct nvme_ctrl *ctrl = &req->queue->ctrl->ctrl;
 	struct nvme_tcp_cmd_pdu *pdu = req->pdu;
 
-	/*
-	 * Restart the timer if a controller reset is already scheduled. Any
-	 * timed out commands would be handled before entering the connecting
-	 * state.
-	 */
-	if (ctrl->ctrl.state == NVME_CTRL_RESETTING)
-		return BLK_EH_RESET_TIMER;
-
-	dev_warn(ctrl->ctrl.device,
+	dev_warn(ctrl->device,
 		"queue %d: timeout request %#x type %d\n",
 		nvme_tcp_queue_id(req->queue), rq->tag, pdu->hdr.type);
 
-	if (ctrl->ctrl.state != NVME_CTRL_LIVE) {
+	if (ctrl->state != NVME_CTRL_LIVE) {
 		/*
-		 * Teardown immediately if controller times out while starting
-		 * or we are already started error recovery. all outstanding
-		 * requests are completed on shutdown, so we return BLK_EH_DONE.
+		 * If we are resetting, connecting or deleting we should
+		 * complete immediately because we may block controller
+		 * teardown or setup sequence
+		 * - ctrl disable/shutdown fabrics requests
+		 * - connect requests
+		 * - initialization admin requests
+		 * - I/O requests that entered after unquiescing and
+		 *   the controller stopped responding
+		 *
+		 * All other requests should be cancelled by the error
+		 * recovery work, so it's fine that we fail it here.
 		 */
-		flush_work(&ctrl->err_work);
-		nvme_tcp_teardown_io_queues(&ctrl->ctrl, false);
-		nvme_tcp_teardown_admin_queue(&ctrl->ctrl, false);
+		nvme_tcp_complete_timed_out(rq);
 		return BLK_EH_DONE;
 	}
 
-	dev_warn(ctrl->ctrl.device, "starting error recovery\n");
-	nvme_tcp_error_recovery(&ctrl->ctrl);
-
+	/*
+	 * LIVE state should trigger the normal error recovery which will
+	 * handle completing this request.
+	 */
+	nvme_tcp_error_recovery(ctrl);
 	return BLK_EH_RESET_TIMER;
 }