diff --git a/cmd/sriov/main.go b/cmd/sriov/main.go
index 3ba469832..06dd05697 100644
--- a/cmd/sriov/main.go
+++ b/cmd/sriov/main.go
@@ -221,6 +221,14 @@ func cmdDel(args *skel.CmdArgs) error {
 
 	sm := sriov.NewSriovManager()
 
+	/* ResetVFConfig resets a VF administratively. We must run ResetVFConfig
+	   before ReleaseVF because some drivers will error out if we try to
+	   reset netdev VF with trust off. So, reset VF MAC address via PF first.
+	*/
+	if err := sm.ResetVFConfig(netConf); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cmdDel() error reseting VF: %q", err)
+	}
+
 	if !netConf.DPDKMode {
 		netns, err := ns.GetNS(args.Netns)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -243,10 +251,6 @@ func cmdDel(args *skel.CmdArgs) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if err := sm.ResetVFConfig(netConf); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cmdDel() error reseting VF: %q", err)
-	}
-
 	// Mark the pci address as released
 	allocator := utils.NewPCIAllocator(config.DefaultCNIDir)
 	if err = allocator.DeleteAllocatedPCI(netConf.DeviceID); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/sriov/sriov.go b/pkg/sriov/sriov.go
index 70160bdae..deaad0b98 100644
--- a/pkg/sriov/sriov.go
+++ b/pkg/sriov/sriov.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package sriov
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/containernetworking/plugins/pkg/ns"
 
@@ -91,7 +92,20 @@ func (s *sriovManager) SetupVF(conf *sriovtypes.NetConf, podifName string, cid s
 		// Save the original effective MAC address before overriding it
 		conf.OrigVfState.EffectiveMAC = linkObj.Attrs().HardwareAddr.String()
 
-		if err = s.nLink.LinkSetHardwareAddr(linkObj, hwaddr); err != nil {
+		/* Some NIC drivers (i.e. i40e/iavf) set VF MAC address asynchronously
+		   via PF. This means that while the PF could already show the VF with
+		   the desired MAC address, the netdev VF may still have the original
+		   one. If in this window we issue a netdev VF MAC address set, the driver
+		   will return an error and the pod will fail to create.
+		   Other NICs (Mellanox) require explicit netdev VF MAC address so we
+		   cannot skip this part.
+		   Retry up to 5 times; wait 200 milliseconds between retries
+		*/
+		err = utils.Retry(5, 200*time.Millisecond, func() error {
+			return s.nLink.LinkSetHardwareAddr(linkObj, hwaddr)
+		})
+
+		if err != nil {
 			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to set netlink MAC address to %s: %v", hwaddr, err)
 		}
 		macAddress = conf.MAC
@@ -332,7 +346,20 @@ func (s *sriovManager) ResetVFConfig(conf *sriovtypes.NetConf) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse original administrative MAC address %s: %v", conf.OrigVfState.AdminMAC, err)
 		}
-		if err = s.nLink.LinkSetVfHardwareAddr(pfLink, conf.VFID, hwaddr); err != nil {
+
+		/* Some NIC drivers (i.e. i40e/iavf) set VF MAC address asynchronously
+		   via PF. This means that while the PF could already show the VF with
+		   the desired MAC address, the netdev VF may still have the original
+		   one. If in this window we issue a netdev VF MAC address set, the driver
+		   will return an error and the pod will fail to create.
+		   Other NICs (Mellanox) require explicit netdev VF MAC address so we
+		   cannot skip this part.
+		   Retry up to 5 times; wait 200 milliseconds between retries
+		*/
+		err = utils.Retry(5, 200*time.Millisecond, func() error {
+			return s.nLink.LinkSetVfHardwareAddr(pfLink, conf.VFID, hwaddr)
+		})
+		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to restore original administrative MAC address %s: %v", hwaddr, err)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/utils/utils.go b/pkg/utils/utils.go
index 9d4ccae7b..24178da19 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/utils.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -314,3 +315,16 @@ func IsIPv4(ip net.IP) bool {
 func IsIPv6(ip net.IP) bool {
 	return ip.To4() == nil && ip.To16() != nil
 }
+
+// Retry retries a given function until no return error; times out after retries*sleep
+func Retry(retries int, sleep time.Duration, f func() error) error {
+	err := error(nil)
+	for retry := 0; retry < retries; retry++ {
+		err = f()
+		if err == nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+		time.Sleep(sleep)
+	}
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/pkg/utils/utils_test.go b/pkg/utils/utils_test.go
index 3896e573f..0bb159030 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/utils_test.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/utils_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package utils
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+	"time"
+
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 )
@@ -78,4 +81,14 @@ var _ = Describe("Utils", func() {
 			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred(), "Not existing VF should return an error")
 		})
 	})
+	Context("Checking Retry functon", func() {
+		It("Assuming calling function fails", func() {
+			err := Retry(5, 10*time.Millisecond, func() error { return errors.New("") })
+			Expect(err).To((HaveOccurred()), "Retry should return an error")
+		})
+		It("Assuming calling function does not fail", func() {
+			err := Retry(5, 10*time.Millisecond, func() error { return nil })
+			Expect(err).NotTo((HaveOccurred()), "Retry should not return an error")
+		})
+	})
 })