diff --git a/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4 b/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4
index 734d8023becd8905958eefa7403e445477e12ef5..bd0e21ea15ea315c7aaf3d779838adab570fbb67 100644
--- a/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4
+++ b/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4
@@ -127,6 +127,9 @@ else
        if test "$BOCD" != 0 ; then
                AC_DEFINE(SOCKNAL_BACKOFF, 1, [use tunable backoff TCP])
                AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+               if grep rto_max $LINUX/include/linux/tcp.h|grep -q __u16; then
+                   AC_DEFINE(SOCKNAL_BACKOFF_MS, 1, [tunable backoff TCP in ms])
+               fi
        else
                AC_MSG_RESULT([no (no kernel support)])
        fi
diff --git a/lnet/klnds/socklnd/socklnd_lib-linux.c b/lnet/klnds/socklnd/socklnd_lib-linux.c
index 821522d139bf7d0dd9ac17b78b9ed18be6fa11ff..0eb0997c9bda64a6adf71ee108f8b8c579f662dd 100644
--- a/lnet/klnds/socklnd/socklnd_lib-linux.c
+++ b/lnet/klnds/socklnd/socklnd_lib-linux.c
@@ -790,6 +790,9 @@ ksocknal_lib_setup_sock (struct socket *sock)
 #ifdef SOCKNAL_BACKOFF
         if (*ksocknal_tunables.ksnd_backoff_init > 0) {
                 option = *ksocknal_tunables.ksnd_backoff_init;
+#ifdef SOCKNAL_BACKOFF_MS
+                option *= 1000;
+#endif
 
                 set_fs (KERNEL_DS);
                 rc = sock->ops->setsockopt (sock, SOL_TCP, TCP_BACKOFF_INIT,
@@ -804,6 +807,9 @@ ksocknal_lib_setup_sock (struct socket *sock)
 
         if (*ksocknal_tunables.ksnd_backoff_max > 0) {
                 option = *ksocknal_tunables.ksnd_backoff_max;
+#ifdef SOCKNAL_BACKOFF_MS
+                option *= 1000;
+#endif
 
                 set_fs (KERNEL_DS);
                 rc = sock->ops->setsockopt (sock, SOL_TCP, TCP_BACKOFF_MAX,