diff --git a/include/io/channel-socket.h b/include/io/channel-socket.h
index 26319fa98b..fcfd489c6c 100644
--- a/include/io/channel-socket.h
+++ b/include/io/channel-socket.h
@@ -50,6 +50,11 @@ struct QIOChannelSocket {
     ssize_t zero_copy_queued;
     ssize_t zero_copy_sent;
     bool blocking;
+    /**
+     * This flag indicates whether any new data was successfully sent with
+     * zerocopy since the last qio_channel_socket_flush() call.
+     */
+    bool new_zero_copy_sent_success;
 };
 
 
diff --git a/io/channel-socket.c b/io/channel-socket.c
index 8b30d5b7f7..3053b35ad8 100644
--- a/io/channel-socket.c
+++ b/io/channel-socket.c
@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@
 
 #define SOCKET_MAX_FDS 16
 
+#ifdef QEMU_MSG_ZEROCOPY
+static int qio_channel_socket_flush_internal(QIOChannel *ioc,
+                                             bool block,
+                                             Error **errp);
+#endif
+
 SocketAddress *
 qio_channel_socket_get_local_address(QIOChannelSocket *ioc,
                                      Error **errp)
@@ -66,6 +72,7 @@ qio_channel_socket_new(void)
     sioc->zero_copy_queued = 0;
     sioc->zero_copy_sent = 0;
     sioc->blocking = false;
+    sioc->new_zero_copy_sent_success = false;
 
     ioc = QIO_CHANNEL(sioc);
     qio_channel_set_feature(ioc, QIO_CHANNEL_FEATURE_SHUTDOWN);
@@ -618,6 +625,10 @@ static ssize_t qio_channel_socket_writev(QIOChannel *ioc,
     size_t fdsize = sizeof(int) * nfds;
     struct cmsghdr *cmsg;
     int sflags = 0;
+#ifdef QEMU_MSG_ZEROCOPY
+    bool blocking = sioc->blocking;
+    bool zerocopy_flushed_once = false;
+#endif
 
     memset(control, 0, CMSG_SPACE(sizeof(int) * SOCKET_MAX_FDS));
 
@@ -662,13 +673,30 @@ static ssize_t qio_channel_socket_writev(QIOChannel *ioc,
             return QIO_CHANNEL_ERR_BLOCK;
         case EINTR:
             goto retry;
+#ifdef QEMU_MSG_ZEROCOPY
         case ENOBUFS:
             if (flags & QIO_CHANNEL_WRITE_FLAG_ZERO_COPY) {
-                error_setg_errno(errp, errno,
-                                 "Process can't lock enough memory for using MSG_ZEROCOPY");
-                return -1;
+                /**
+                 * Socket error queueing may exhaust the OPTMEM limit. Try
+                 * flushing the error queue once.
+                 */
+                if (!zerocopy_flushed_once) {
+                    ret = qio_channel_socket_flush_internal(ioc, blocking,
+                                                            errp);
+                    if (ret < 0) {
+                        return -1;
+                    }
+                    zerocopy_flushed_once = true;
+                    goto retry;
+                } else {
+                    error_setg_errno(errp, errno,
+                                     "Process can't lock enough memory for "
+                                     "using MSG_ZEROCOPY");
+                    return -1;
+                }
             }
             break;
+#endif
         }
 
         error_setg_errno(errp, errno,
@@ -777,8 +805,9 @@ static ssize_t qio_channel_socket_writev(QIOChannel *ioc,
 
 
 #ifdef QEMU_MSG_ZEROCOPY
-static int qio_channel_socket_flush(QIOChannel *ioc,
-                                    Error **errp)
+static int qio_channel_socket_flush_internal(QIOChannel *ioc,
+                                             bool block,
+                                             Error **errp)
 {
     QIOChannelSocket *sioc = QIO_CHANNEL_SOCKET(ioc);
     struct msghdr msg = {};
@@ -786,7 +815,6 @@ static int qio_channel_socket_flush(QIOChannel *ioc,
     struct cmsghdr *cm;
     char control[CMSG_SPACE(sizeof(*serr))];
     int received;
-    int ret;
 
     if (sioc->zero_copy_queued == sioc->zero_copy_sent) {
         return 0;
@@ -796,16 +824,25 @@ static int qio_channel_socket_flush(QIOChannel *ioc,
     msg.msg_controllen = sizeof(control);
     memset(control, 0, sizeof(control));
 
-    ret = 1;
-
     while (sioc->zero_copy_sent < sioc->zero_copy_queued) {
         received = recvmsg(sioc->fd, &msg, MSG_ERRQUEUE);
         if (received < 0) {
             switch (errno) {
             case EAGAIN:
-                /* Nothing on errqueue, wait until something is available */
-                qio_channel_wait(ioc, G_IO_ERR);
-                continue;
+                if (block) {
+                    /*
+                     * Nothing on errqueue, wait until something is
+                     * available.
+                     *
+                     * Use G_IO_ERR instead of G_IO_IN since MSG_ERRQUEUE reads
+                     * are signaled via POLLERR, not POLLIN, as the kernel
+                     * sets POLLERR when zero-copy notificatons appear on the
+                     * socket error queue.
+                     */
+                    qio_channel_wait(ioc, G_IO_ERR);
+                    continue;
+                }
+                return 0;
             case EINTR:
                 continue;
             default:
@@ -843,13 +880,32 @@ static int qio_channel_socket_flush(QIOChannel *ioc,
         /* No errors, count successfully finished sendmsg()*/
         sioc->zero_copy_sent += serr->ee_data - serr->ee_info + 1;
 
-        /* If any sendmsg() succeeded using zero copy, return 0 at the end */
+        /* If any sendmsg() succeeded using zero copy, mark zerocopy success */
         if (serr->ee_code != SO_EE_CODE_ZEROCOPY_COPIED) {
-            ret = 0;
+            sioc->new_zero_copy_sent_success = true;
         }
     }
 
-    return ret;
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int qio_channel_socket_flush(QIOChannel *ioc,
+                                    Error **errp)
+{
+    QIOChannelSocket *sioc = QIO_CHANNEL_SOCKET(ioc);
+    int ret;
+
+    ret = qio_channel_socket_flush_internal(ioc, true, errp);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    if (sioc->new_zero_copy_sent_success) {
+        sioc->new_zero_copy_sent_success = false;
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    return 1;
 }
 
 #endif /* QEMU_MSG_ZEROCOPY */