diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 4c4a7b1..08a134f 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -270,10 +270,10 @@ static enum parser_result parse_global_setting(const char *option,
 			return BAD_VALUE;
 		*cfg->assume_two_step = val ? 1 : 0;
 
-	} else if (!strcmp(option, "tx_timestamp_retries")) {
+	} else if (!strcmp(option, "tx_timestamp_timeout")) {
 		if (1 != sscanf(value, "%u", &val) || !(val > 0))
 			return BAD_VALUE;
-		*cfg->tx_timestamp_retries = val;
+		*cfg->tx_timestamp_timeout = val;
 
 	} else if (!strcmp(option, "pi_proportional_const")) {
 		if (1 != sscanf(value, "%lf", &df) || !(df >= 0.0 && df < 1.0))
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 497d683..e7f1f50 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ struct config {
 	struct default_ds dds;
 	struct port_defaults pod;
 	int *assume_two_step;
-	int *tx_timestamp_retries;
+	int *tx_timestamp_timeout;
 
 	enum servo_type clock_servo;
 
diff --git a/default.cfg b/default.cfg
index 84cc0df..4694e32 100644
--- a/default.cfg
+++ b/default.cfg
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ assume_two_step		0
 logging_level		6
 path_trace_enabled	0
 follow_up_info		0
-tx_timestamp_retries	100
+tx_timestamp_timeout	1
 use_syslog		1
 verbose			0
 summary_interval	0
diff --git a/gPTP.cfg b/gPTP.cfg
index f14990b..83a44bf 100644
--- a/gPTP.cfg
+++ b/gPTP.cfg
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ assume_two_step		1
 logging_level		6
 path_trace_enabled	1
 follow_up_info		1
-tx_timestamp_retries	100
+tx_timestamp_timeout	1
 use_syslog		1
 verbose			0
 summary_interval	0
diff --git a/ptp4l.8 b/ptp4l.8
index 45ef6f3..ee9cccd 100644
--- a/ptp4l.8
+++ b/ptp4l.8
@@ -264,10 +264,10 @@ Treat one-step responses as two-step if enabled. It is used to work around
 buggy 802.1AS switches.
 The default is 0 (disabled).
 .TP
-.B tx_timestamp_retries
-The number of retries to fetch the tx time stamp from the kernel when a message
-is sent.
-The default is 100.
+.B tx_timestamp_timeout
+The number of milliseconds to poll waiting for the tx time stamp from the kernel
+when a message has recently been sent.
+The default is 1.
 .TP
 .B clock_servo
 The servo which is used to synchronize the local clock. Currently only one
diff --git a/ptp4l.c b/ptp4l.c
index 1312cd6..3bf1f86 100644
--- a/ptp4l.c
+++ b/ptp4l.c
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ static struct config cfg_settings = {
 	.transport = TRANS_UDP_IPV4,
 
 	.assume_two_step = &assume_two_step,
-	.tx_timestamp_retries = &sk_tx_retries,
+	.tx_timestamp_timeout = &sk_tx_timeout,
 
 	.clock_servo = CLOCK_SERVO_PI,
 
diff --git a/sk.c b/sk.c
index 786d4d3..1ff5325 100644
--- a/sk.c
+++ b/sk.c
@@ -28,13 +28,14 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <ifaddrs.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <poll.h>
 
 #include "print.h"
 #include "sk.h"
 
 /* globals */
 
-int sk_tx_retries = 100;
+int sk_tx_timeout = 1;
 
 /* private methods */
 
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ int sk_receive(int fd, void *buf, int buflen,
 	       struct hw_timestamp *hwts, int flags)
 {
 	char control[256];
-	int cnt = 0, level, try_again, type;
+	int cnt = 0, res = 0, level, type;
 	struct cmsghdr *cm;
 	struct iovec iov = { buf, buflen };
 	struct msghdr msg;
@@ -213,28 +214,22 @@ int sk_receive(int fd, void *buf, int buflen,
 	msg.msg_control = control;
 	msg.msg_controllen = sizeof(control);
 
-	try_again = flags == MSG_ERRQUEUE ? sk_tx_retries : 1;
-
-	for ( ; try_again; try_again--) {
-		cnt = recvmsg(fd, &msg, flags);
-		if (cnt >= 0) {
-			break;
-		}
-		if (errno == EINTR) {
-			try_again++;
-		} else if (errno == EAGAIN) {
-			usleep(1);
-		} else {
-			break;
+	if (flags == MSG_ERRQUEUE) {
+		struct pollfd pfd = { fd, 0, 0 };
+		res = poll(&pfd, 1, sk_tx_timeout);
+		if (res < 1) {
+			pr_err("poll tx timestamp failed: %m");
+			return res;
+		} else if (!(pfd.revents & POLLERR)) {
+			pr_err("poll tx woke up on non ERR event");
+			return -1;
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (cnt < 1) {
-		if (flags == MSG_ERRQUEUE)
-			pr_err("recvmsg tx timestamp failed: %m");
-		else
-			pr_err("recvmsg failed: %m");
-	}
+	cnt = recvmsg(fd, &msg, flags);
+	if (cnt < 1)
+		pr_err("recvmsg%sfailed: %m",
+		       flags == MSG_ERRQUEUE ? " tx timestamp " : " ");
 
 	for (cm = CMSG_FIRSTHDR(&msg); cm != NULL; cm = CMSG_NXTHDR(&msg, cm)) {
 		level = cm->cmsg_level;
diff --git a/sk.h b/sk.h
index 1923742..6070537 100644
--- a/sk.h
+++ b/sk.h
@@ -97,9 +97,9 @@ int sk_timestamping_init(int fd, char *device, enum timestamp_type type,
 			 enum transport_type transport);
 
 /**
- * Limits the number of RECVMSG(2) calls when attempting to obtain a
- * transmit time stamp on an event message.
+ * Limits the time that RECVMSG(2) will poll while waiting for the tx timestamp
+ * if MSG_ERRQUEUE is set. Specified in milliseconds.
  */
-extern int sk_tx_retries;
+extern int sk_tx_timeout;
 
 #endif