diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c
index 25f9185d5a15..22318edff551 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c
@@ -1716,6 +1716,7 @@ try_add_to_existing_fg(struct mlx5_flow_table *ft,
 	struct mlx5_flow_handle *rule;
 	struct match_list *iter;
 	bool take_write = false;
+	bool try_again = false;
 	struct fs_fte *fte;
 	u64  version;
 	int err;
@@ -1771,6 +1772,7 @@ skip_search:
 		nested_down_write_ref_node(&g->node, FS_LOCK_PARENT);
 
 		if (!g->node.active) {
+			try_again = true;
 			up_write_ref_node(&g->node, false);
 			continue;
 		}
@@ -1792,7 +1794,8 @@ skip_search:
 			tree_put_node(&fte->node, false);
 		return rule;
 	}
-	rule = ERR_PTR(-ENOENT);
+	err = try_again ? -EAGAIN : -ENOENT;
+	rule = ERR_PTR(err);
 out:
 	kmem_cache_free(steering->ftes_cache, fte);
 	return rule;