diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.c b/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.c
index 9bcda993685a..b1e933fc7044 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.c
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ struct gb_connection *gb_connection_create(struct gb_interface *interface,
 	connection->interface = interface;	/* XXX refcount? */
 	connection->interface_cport_id = cport_id;
 	connection->protocol = protocol;
+	connection->state = GB_CONNECTION_STATE_DISABLED;
 
 	spin_lock_irq(&gb_connections_lock);
 	_gb_hd_connection_insert(hd, connection);
@@ -217,13 +218,20 @@ void gb_connection_err(struct gb_connection *connection, const char *fmt, ...)
  */
 int gb_connection_init(struct gb_connection *connection)
 {
+	int ret;
+
+	/* Need to enable the connection to initialize it */
+	connection->state = GB_CONNECTION_STATE_ENABLED;
 	switch (connection->protocol) {
 	case GREYBUS_PROTOCOL_I2C:
-		return gb_i2c_device_init(connection);
+		ret = gb_i2c_device_init(connection);
+		break;
 	case GREYBUS_PROTOCOL_GPIO:
-		return gb_gpio_controller_init(connection);
+		ret = gb_gpio_controller_init(connection);
+		break;
 	case GREYBUS_PROTOCOL_BATTERY:
-		return gb_battery_device_init(connection);
+		ret = gb_battery_device_init(connection);
+		break;
 	case GREYBUS_PROTOCOL_CONTROL:
 	case GREYBUS_PROTOCOL_AP:
 	case GREYBUS_PROTOCOL_UART:
@@ -233,13 +241,20 @@ int gb_connection_init(struct gb_connection *connection)
 	default:
 		gb_connection_err(connection, "unimplemented protocol %u",
 			(u32)connection->protocol);
+		ret = -ENXIO;
 		break;
 	}
-	return -ENXIO;
+
+	if (ret)
+		connection->state = GB_CONNECTION_STATE_ERROR;
+
+	return ret;
 }
 
 void gb_connection_exit(struct gb_connection *connection)
 {
+	connection->state = GB_CONNECTION_STATE_DESTROYING;
+
 	switch (connection->protocol) {
 	case GREYBUS_PROTOCOL_I2C:
 		gb_i2c_device_exit(connection);
diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.h b/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.h
index b5901a1b1a74..a16e52a8ba18 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/connection.h
@@ -13,6 +13,14 @@
 
 #include "greybus.h"
 
+enum gb_connection_state {
+	GB_CONNECTION_STATE_INVALID	= 0,
+	GB_CONNECTION_STATE_DISABLED	= 1,
+	GB_CONNECTION_STATE_ENABLED	= 2,
+	GB_CONNECTION_STATE_ERROR	= 3,
+	GB_CONNECTION_STATE_DESTROYING	= 4,
+};
+
 struct gb_connection {
 	struct greybus_host_device	*hd;
 	struct gb_interface		*interface;
@@ -22,6 +30,7 @@ struct gb_connection {
 	struct rb_node			hd_node;
 	struct list_head		interface_links;
 	enum greybus_protocol		protocol;
+	enum gb_connection_state	state;
 
 	struct list_head		operations;
 	struct rb_root			pending;	/* awaiting reponse */
diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c b/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c
index afb42d5e1941..5d23d1977297 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c
@@ -417,6 +417,9 @@ int gb_operation_request_send(struct gb_operation *operation,
 {
 	int ret;
 
+	if (operation->connection->state != GB_CONNECTION_STATE_ENABLED)
+		return -ENOTCONN;
+
 	/*
 	 * XXX
 	 * I think the order of operations is going to be
@@ -461,6 +464,9 @@ void gb_connection_operation_recv(struct gb_connection *connection,
 	struct gbuf *gbuf;
 	u16 msg_size;
 
+	if (connection->state != GB_CONNECTION_STATE_ENABLED)
+		return;
+
 	if (size > GB_OPERATION_MESSAGE_SIZE_MAX) {
 		gb_connection_err(connection, "message too big");
 		return;