diff --git a/src/cart/crt_hg.c b/src/cart/crt_hg.c
index ab23cc104797..318aacd57a81 100644
--- a/src/cart/crt_hg.c
+++ b/src/cart/crt_hg.c
@@ -908,6 +908,10 @@ crt_hg_class_init(crt_provider_t provider, int ctx_idx, bool primary, int iface_
 	init_info.request_post_incr         = crt_gdata.cg_post_incr;
 	init_info.multi_recv_op_max         = crt_gdata.cg_mrecv_buf;
 	init_info.multi_recv_copy_threshold = crt_gdata.cg_mrecv_buf_copy;
+	/* With cxi provider, separate SWIM traffic in an effort to prevent potential congestion. */
+	if (provider == CRT_PROV_OFI_CXI && crt_is_service() &&
+	    ctx_idx == crt_gdata.cg_swim_crt_idx)
+		init_info.traffic_class = NA_TC_BULK_DATA;
 
 	hg_class = HG_Init_opt2(info_string, crt_is_service(), HG_VERSION(2, 4), &init_info);
 	if (hg_class == NULL) {