diff --git a/drivers/staging/lustre/include/linux/lnet/lib-types.h b/drivers/staging/lustre/include/linux/lnet/lib-types.h
index e4a8f6e4e4b1..06d46568b7b5 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/lustre/include/linux/lnet/lib-types.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/lustre/include/linux/lnet/lib-types.h
@@ -635,6 +635,13 @@ typedef struct {
 	 */
 	bool				  ln_nis_from_mod_params;
 
+	/*
+	 * waitq for router checker.  As long as there are no routes in
+	 * the list, the router checker will sleep on this queue.  when
+	 * routes are added the thread will wake up
+	 */
+	wait_queue_head_t		  ln_rc_waitq;
+
 } lnet_t;
 
 #endif
diff --git a/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/api-ni.c b/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/api-ni.c
index ed121a869205..0ec656ac0fd4 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/api-ni.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/api-ni.c
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ lnet_init_locks(void)
 {
 	spin_lock_init(&the_lnet.ln_eq_wait_lock);
 	init_waitqueue_head(&the_lnet.ln_eq_waitq);
+	init_waitqueue_head(&the_lnet.ln_rc_waitq);
 	mutex_init(&the_lnet.ln_lnd_mutex);
 	mutex_init(&the_lnet.ln_api_mutex);
 }
diff --git a/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/router.c b/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/router.c
index 511e44602694..ad9cd4489716 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/router.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/lustre/lnet/lnet/router.c
@@ -405,6 +405,9 @@ lnet_add_route(__u32 net, unsigned int hops, lnet_nid_t gateway,
 	if (rnet != rnet2)
 		LIBCFS_FREE(rnet, sizeof(*rnet));
 
+	/* indicate to startup the router checker if configured */
+	wake_up(&the_lnet.ln_rc_waitq);
+
 	return rc;
 }
 
@@ -1056,11 +1059,6 @@ lnet_router_checker_start(void)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	if (!the_lnet.ln_routing &&
-	    live_router_check_interval <= 0 &&
-	    dead_router_check_interval <= 0)
-		return 0;
-
 	sema_init(&the_lnet.ln_rc_signal, 0);
 	/*
 	 * EQ size doesn't matter; the callback is guaranteed to get every
@@ -1109,6 +1107,8 @@ lnet_router_checker_stop(void)
 
 	LASSERT(the_lnet.ln_rc_state == LNET_RC_STATE_RUNNING);
 	the_lnet.ln_rc_state = LNET_RC_STATE_STOPPING;
+	/* wakeup the RC thread if it's sleeping */
+	wake_up(&the_lnet.ln_rc_waitq);
 
 	/* block until event callback signals exit */
 	down(&the_lnet.ln_rc_signal);
@@ -1199,6 +1199,33 @@ lnet_prune_rc_data(int wait_unlink)
 	lnet_net_unlock(LNET_LOCK_EX);
 }
 
+/*
+ * This function is called to check if the RC should block indefinitely.
+ * It's called from lnet_router_checker() as well as being passed to
+ * wait_event_interruptible() to avoid the lost wake_up problem.
+ *
+ * When it's called from wait_event_interruptible() it is necessary to
+ * also not sleep if the rc state is not running to avoid a deadlock
+ * when the system is shutting down
+ */
+static inline bool
+lnet_router_checker_active(void)
+{
+	if (the_lnet.ln_rc_state != LNET_RC_STATE_RUNNING)
+		return true;
+
+	/*
+	 * Router Checker thread needs to run when routing is enabled in
+	 * order to call lnet_update_ni_status_locked()
+	 */
+	if (the_lnet.ln_routing)
+		return true;
+
+	return !list_empty(&the_lnet.ln_routers) &&
+		(live_router_check_interval > 0 ||
+		 dead_router_check_interval > 0);
+}
+
 static int
 lnet_router_checker(void *arg)
 {
@@ -1252,8 +1279,18 @@ rescan:
 		 * because kernel counts # active tasks as nr_running
 		 * + nr_uninterruptible.
 		 */
-		set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
-		schedule_timeout(cfs_time_seconds(1));
+		/*
+		 * if there are any routes then wakeup every second.  If
+		 * there are no routes then sleep indefinitely until woken
+		 * up by a user adding a route
+		 */
+		if (!lnet_router_checker_active())
+			wait_event_interruptible(the_lnet.ln_rc_waitq,
+						 lnet_router_checker_active());
+		else
+			wait_event_interruptible_timeout(the_lnet.ln_rc_waitq,
+							 false,
+							 cfs_time_seconds(1));
 	}
 
 	LASSERT(the_lnet.ln_rc_state == LNET_RC_STATE_STOPPING);