diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c b/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
index 72a22b6c9682..b373cceb95d2 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
@@ -640,12 +640,28 @@ void ata_scsi_cmd_error_handler(struct Scsi_Host *host, struct ata_port *ap,
 		set_host_byte(scmd, DID_OK);
 
 		ata_qc_for_each_raw(ap, qc, i) {
-			if (qc->flags & ATA_QCFLAG_ACTIVE &&
-			    qc->scsicmd == scmd)
+			if (qc->scsicmd != scmd)
+				continue;
+			if ((qc->flags & ATA_QCFLAG_ACTIVE) ||
+			    qc == ap->deferred_qc)
 				break;
 		}
 
-		if (i < ATA_MAX_QUEUE) {
+		if (qc == ap->deferred_qc) {
+			/*
+			 * This is a deferred command that timed out while
+			 * waiting for the command queue to drain. Since the qc
+			 * is not active yet (deferred_qc is still set, so the
+			 * deferred qc work has not issued the command yet),
+			 * simply signal the timeout by finishing the SCSI
+			 * command and clear the deferred qc to prevent the
+			 * deferred qc work from issuing this qc.
+			 */
+			WARN_ON_ONCE(qc->flags & ATA_QCFLAG_ACTIVE);
+			ap->deferred_qc = NULL;
+			set_host_byte(scmd, DID_TIME_OUT);
+			scsi_eh_finish_cmd(scmd, &ap->eh_done_q);
+		} else if (i < ATA_MAX_QUEUE) {
 			/* the scmd has an associated qc */
 			if (!(qc->flags & ATA_QCFLAG_EH)) {
 				/* which hasn't failed yet, timeout */