diff --git a/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h b/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h
index cd188a527d1690..3b35b6f6533aab 100644
--- a/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h
+++ b/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h
@@ -92,6 +92,11 @@ extern ssize_t rpc_pipe_generic_upcall(struct file *, struct rpc_pipe_msg *,
 				       char __user *, size_t);
 extern int rpc_queue_upcall(struct rpc_pipe *, struct rpc_pipe_msg *);
 
+/* returns true if the msg is in-flight, i.e., already eaten by the peer */
+static inline bool rpc_msg_is_inflight(const struct rpc_pipe_msg *msg) {
+	return (msg->copied != 0 && list_empty(&msg->list));
+}
+
 struct rpc_clnt;
 extern struct dentry *rpc_create_client_dir(struct dentry *, const char *, struct rpc_clnt *);
 extern int rpc_remove_client_dir(struct rpc_clnt *);
diff --git a/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c b/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c
index 7bb247c51e2f66..2d7b1e03110ae8 100644
--- a/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c
+++ b/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ __gss_find_upcall(struct rpc_pipe *pipe, kuid_t uid, const struct gss_auth *auth
 	list_for_each_entry(pos, &pipe->in_downcall, list) {
 		if (!uid_eq(pos->uid, uid))
 			continue;
-		if (auth && pos->auth->service != auth->service)
+		if (pos->auth->service != auth->service)
 			continue;
 		refcount_inc(&pos->count);
 		return pos;
@@ -686,6 +686,21 @@ gss_create_upcall(struct gss_auth *gss_auth, struct gss_cred *gss_cred)
 	return err;
 }
 
+static struct gss_upcall_msg *
+gss_find_downcall(struct rpc_pipe *pipe, kuid_t uid)
+{
+	struct gss_upcall_msg *pos;
+	list_for_each_entry(pos, &pipe->in_downcall, list) {
+		if (!uid_eq(pos->uid, uid))
+			continue;
+		if (!rpc_msg_is_inflight(&pos->msg))
+			continue;
+		refcount_inc(&pos->count);
+		return pos;
+	}
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 #define MSG_BUF_MAXSIZE 1024
 
 static ssize_t
@@ -732,7 +747,7 @@ gss_pipe_downcall(struct file *filp, const char __user *src, size_t mlen)
 	err = -ENOENT;
 	/* Find a matching upcall */
 	spin_lock(&pipe->lock);
-	gss_msg = __gss_find_upcall(pipe, uid, NULL);
+	gss_msg = gss_find_downcall(pipe, uid);
 	if (gss_msg == NULL) {
 		spin_unlock(&pipe->lock);
 		goto err_put_ctx;