diff --git a/src/drivers/driver.h b/src/drivers/driver.h
index d93689586..eaaef00a3 100644
--- a/src/drivers/driver.h
+++ b/src/drivers/driver.h
@@ -553,6 +553,12 @@ struct wpa_driver_capa {
  * P2P group operations.
  */
 #define WPA_DRIVER_FLAGS_P2P_MGMT_AND_NON_P2P		0x00002000
+/*
+ * Driver is known to use sane error codes, i.e., when it indicates that
+ * something (e.g., association) fails, there was indeed a failure and the
+ * operation does not end up getting completed successfully later.
+ */
+#define WPA_DRIVER_FLAGS_SANE_ERROR_CODES		0x00004000
 	unsigned int flags;
 
 	int max_scan_ssids;
diff --git a/src/drivers/driver_nl80211.c b/src/drivers/driver_nl80211.c
index 71640fc88..f69cc712d 100644
--- a/src/drivers/driver_nl80211.c
+++ b/src/drivers/driver_nl80211.c
@@ -1489,6 +1489,7 @@ static int wpa_driver_nl80211_capa(struct wpa_driver_nl80211_data *drv)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	drv->capa.flags |= WPA_DRIVER_FLAGS_SANE_ERROR_CODES;
 	drv->capa.flags |= WPA_DRIVER_FLAGS_SET_KEYS_AFTER_ASSOC_DONE;
 	drv->capa.flags |= WPA_DRIVER_FLAGS_P2P_CAPABLE;
 	drv->capa.max_remain_on_chan = 5000;
diff --git a/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.c b/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.c
index 350ad9a71..68d171fbf 100644
--- a/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.c
+++ b/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.c
@@ -1304,6 +1304,16 @@ void wpa_supplicant_associate(struct wpa_supplicant *wpa_s,
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		wpa_msg(wpa_s, MSG_INFO, "Association request to the driver "
 			"failed");
+		if (wpa_s->drv_flags & WPA_DRIVER_FLAGS_SANE_ERROR_CODES) {
+			/*
+			 * The driver is known to mean what is saying, so we
+			 * can stop right here; the association will not
+			 * succeed.
+			 */
+			wpas_connection_failed(wpa_s, wpa_s->pending_bssid);
+			os_memset(wpa_s->pending_bssid, 0, ETH_ALEN);
+			return;
+		}
 		/* try to continue anyway; new association will be tried again
 		 * after timeout */
 		assoc_failed = 1;