diff --git a/sys/dev/ath/ath_hal/ar5416/ar5416_cal.c b/sys/dev/ath/ath_hal/ar5416/ar5416_cal.c
index ca09bdd7aab..af9da725905 100644
--- a/sys/dev/ath/ath_hal/ar5416/ar5416_cal.c
+++ b/sys/dev/ath/ath_hal/ar5416/ar5416_cal.c
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ ar5416LoadNF(struct ath_hal *ah, const struct ieee80211_channel *chan)
 		AR_PHY_CH2_EXT_CCA
 	};
 	struct ar5212NfCalHist *h;
-	int i, j;
+	int i;
 	int32_t val;
 	uint8_t chainmask;
 
@@ -562,11 +562,20 @@ ar5416LoadNF(struct ath_hal *ah, const struct ieee80211_channel *chan)
 	OS_REG_CLR_BIT(ah, AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL, AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL_NO_UPDATE_NF);
 	OS_REG_SET_BIT(ah, AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL, AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL_NF);
 
-	/* Wait for load to complete, should be fast, a few 10s of us. */
-	for (j = 0; j < 1000; j++) {
-		if ((OS_REG_READ(ah, AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL) & AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL_NF) == 0)
-			break;
-		OS_DELAY(10);
+	if (! ar5212WaitNFCalComplete(ah, 1000)) {
+		/*
+		 * We timed out waiting for the noisefloor to load, probably due to an
+		 * in-progress rx. Simply return here and allow the load plenty of time
+		 * to complete before the next calibration interval.  We need to avoid
+		 * trying to load -50 (which happens below) while the previous load is
+		 * still in progress as this can cause rx deafness. Instead by returning
+		 * here, the baseband nf cal will just be capped by our present
+		 * noisefloor until the next calibration timer.
+		 */
+		HALDEBUG(ah, HAL_DEBUG_ANY, "Timeout while waiting for nf "
+		    "to load: AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL=0x%x\n",
+		    OS_REG_READ(ah, AR_PHY_AGC_CONTROL));
+		    return;
 	}
 
 	/*