diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmcommon.h b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmcommon.h
index 42eb53b5293b..23ceaa7127b4 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmcommon.h
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmcommon.h
@@ -208,6 +208,9 @@ static inline void __dlm_set_joining_node(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm,
 #define DLM_LOCK_RES_IN_PROGRESS          0x00000010
 #define DLM_LOCK_RES_MIGRATING            0x00000020
 
+/* max milliseconds to wait to sync up a network failure with a node death */
+#define DLM_NODE_DEATH_WAIT_MAX (5 * 1000)
+
 #define DLM_PURGE_INTERVAL_MS   (8 * 1000)
 
 struct dlm_lock_resource
@@ -658,6 +661,7 @@ int dlm_launch_recovery_thread(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm);
 void dlm_complete_recovery_thread(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm);
 void dlm_wait_for_recovery(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm);
 int dlm_is_node_dead(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm, u8 node);
+int dlm_wait_for_node_death(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm, u8 node, int timeout);
 
 void dlm_put(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm);
 struct dlm_ctxt *dlm_grab(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm);
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmconvert.c b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmconvert.c
index f5c2f1979ad3..f66e2d818ccd 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmconvert.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmconvert.c
@@ -392,6 +392,11 @@ static enum dlm_status dlm_send_remote_convert_request(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm,
 	} else {
 		mlog_errno(tmpret);
 		if (dlm_is_host_down(tmpret)) {
+			/* instead of logging the same network error over
+			 * and over, sleep here and wait for the heartbeat
+			 * to notice the node is dead.  times out after 5s. */
+			dlm_wait_for_node_death(dlm, res->owner, 
+						DLM_NODE_DEATH_WAIT_MAX);
 			ret = DLM_RECOVERING;
 			mlog(0, "node %u died so returning DLM_RECOVERING "
 			     "from convert message!\n", res->owner);
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmlock.c b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmlock.c
index d1a0038557a3..e709412e6e32 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmlock.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmlock.c
@@ -646,7 +646,19 @@ retry_lock:
 			mlog(0, "retrying lock with migration/"
 			     "recovery/in progress\n");
 			msleep(100);
-			dlm_wait_for_recovery(dlm);
+			/* no waiting for dlm_reco_thread */
+			if (recovery) {
+				if (status == DLM_RECOVERING) {
+					mlog(0, "%s: got RECOVERING "
+					     "for $REOCVERY lock, master "
+					     "was %u\n", dlm->name, 
+					     res->owner);
+					dlm_wait_for_node_death(dlm, res->owner, 
+							DLM_NODE_DEATH_WAIT_MAX);
+				}
+			} else {
+				dlm_wait_for_recovery(dlm);
+			}
 			goto retry_lock;
 		}
 
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmrecovery.c b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmrecovery.c
index f9ce864966ec..ed76bda1a534 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmrecovery.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/dlm/dlmrecovery.c
@@ -278,6 +278,24 @@ int dlm_is_node_dead(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm, u8 node)
 	return dead;
 }
 
+int dlm_wait_for_node_death(struct dlm_ctxt *dlm, u8 node, int timeout)
+{
+	if (timeout) {
+		mlog(ML_NOTICE, "%s: waiting %dms for notification of "
+		     "death of node %u\n", dlm->name, timeout, node);
+		wait_event_timeout(dlm->dlm_reco_thread_wq,
+			   dlm_is_node_dead(dlm, node),
+			   msecs_to_jiffies(timeout));
+	} else {
+		mlog(ML_NOTICE, "%s: waiting indefinitely for notification "
+		     "of death of node %u\n", dlm->name, node);
+		wait_event(dlm->dlm_reco_thread_wq,
+			   dlm_is_node_dead(dlm, node));
+	}
+	/* for now, return 0 */
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /* callers of the top-level api calls (dlmlock/dlmunlock) should
  * block on the dlm->reco.event when recovery is in progress.
  * the dlm recovery thread will set this state when it begins