diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/i2c-gb.c b/drivers/staging/greybus/i2c-gb.c
index c4e47effa9f5..e1a0ed9dc6f2 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/i2c-gb.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/i2c-gb.c
@@ -382,9 +382,13 @@ static int gb_i2c_transfer_operation(struct gb_i2c_device *gb_i2c_dev,
 
 	response = operation->response_payload;
 	if (response->status) {
-		gb_connection_err(connection, "transfer response %hhu",
-			response->status);
-		ret = -EIO;
+		if (response->status == GB_OP_RETRY) {
+			ret = -EAGAIN;
+		} else {
+			gb_connection_err(connection, "transfer response %hhu",
+				response->status);
+			ret = -EIO;
+		}
 	} else {
 		gb_i2c_transfer_response(msgs, msg_count, response->data);
 		ret = msg_count;
diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.h b/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.h
index d5ec582e21a2..59aad3a38d17 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.h
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ enum gb_operation_status {
 	GB_OP_INVALID		= 1,
 	GB_OP_NO_MEMORY		= 2,
 	GB_OP_INTERRUPTED	= 3,
-	GB_OP_PROTOCOL_BAD	= 4,
+	GB_OP_RETRY		= 4,
+	GB_OP_PROTOCOL_BAD	= 5,
 };
 
 /*