diff --git a/src/include/daos_srv/rsvc.h b/src/include/daos_srv/rsvc.h
index d2105222380..e080143f696 100644
--- a/src/include/daos_srv/rsvc.h
+++ b/src/include/daos_srv/rsvc.h
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ void ds_rsvc_set_state(struct ds_rsvc *svc, enum ds_rsvc_state state);
 void ds_rsvc_begin_stepping_up(struct ds_rsvc *svc);
 int ds_rsvc_end_stepping_up(struct ds_rsvc *svc, int rc_in, enum ds_rsvc_state state);
 int ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(struct ds_rsvc *svc, d_rank_list_t *ranks, size_t size,
-			   uint32_t vos_df_version);
+			   uint32_t vos_df_version, bool (*abort)(void *arg), void *abort_arg);
 int ds_rsvc_add_replicas(enum ds_rsvc_class_id class, d_iov_t *id, d_rank_list_t *ranks,
 			 size_t size, uint32_t vos_df_version, struct rsvc_hint *hint);
 int ds_rsvc_remove_replicas_s(struct ds_rsvc *svc, d_rank_list_t *ranks, bool destroy);
diff --git a/src/pool/srv_pool.c b/src/pool/srv_pool.c
index 6ab3e140d9c..fad6ef2ea25 100644
--- a/src/pool/srv_pool.c
+++ b/src/pool/srv_pool.c
@@ -6969,6 +6969,14 @@ struct pool_svc_reconf_arg {
 	bool			sca_sync_remove;
 };
 
+static bool
+pool_svc_reconf_abort(void *arg)
+{
+	struct pool_svc_sched *reconf = arg;
+
+	return reconf->psc_canceled;
+}
+
 /* Must be used with pool_svc.ps_reconf_sched (see container_of below). */
 static void
 pool_svc_reconf_ult(void *varg)
@@ -7051,7 +7059,8 @@ pool_svc_reconf_ult(void *varg)
 		vos_df_version = ds_pool_get_vos_df_version(svc->ps_global_version);
 		D_ASSERTF(vos_df_version != 0, DF_UUID ": vos_df_version=0 global_version=%u\n",
 			  DP_UUID(svc->ps_uuid), svc->ps_global_version);
-		ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(&svc->ps_rsvc, to_add, rdb_nbytes, vos_df_version);
+		ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(&svc->ps_rsvc, to_add, rdb_nbytes, vos_df_version,
+				       pool_svc_reconf_abort, reconf);
 		if (reconf->psc_canceled) {
 			rc = -DER_OP_CANCELED;
 			goto out_to_add_remove;
diff --git a/src/rsvc/srv.c b/src/rsvc/srv.c
index 6526eba4f39..4502752f8ff 100644
--- a/src/rsvc/srv.c
+++ b/src/rsvc/srv.c
@@ -1200,7 +1200,7 @@ ds_rsvc_stop_leader(enum ds_rsvc_class_id class, d_iov_t *id,
 
 int
 ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(struct ds_rsvc *svc, d_rank_list_t *ranks, size_t size,
-		       uint32_t vos_df_version)
+		       uint32_t vos_df_version, bool (*abort)(void *arg), void *abort_arg)
 {
 	int i;
 	int rc = 0;
@@ -1212,6 +1212,7 @@ ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(struct ds_rsvc *svc, d_rank_list_t *ranks, size_t size,
 		rdb_replica_id_t             id;
 		int                          ids_len = 1;
 		struct ds_rsvc_create_params create_params;
+		struct d_backoff_seq         backoff_seq;
 
 		rl.rl_ranks = &r;
 		rl.rl_nr    = 1;
@@ -1232,8 +1233,27 @@ ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(struct ds_rsvc *svc, d_rank_list_t *ranks, size_t size,
 		create_params.scp_replicas       = &id;
 		create_params.scp_replicas_len   = 1;
 
-		rc = ds_rsvc_dist_start(svc->s_class, &svc->s_id, svc->s_db_uuid, &rl, svc->s_term,
-					DS_RSVC_CREATE, &create_params);
+		/*
+		 * Create and start the replica. If abort is not NULL, retry
+		 * upon retryable errors.
+		 */
+		rc = d_backoff_seq_init(&backoff_seq, 0 /* nzeros */, 2 /* factor */, 1 /* next */,
+					8 /* max */);
+		D_ASSERTF(rc == 0, "d_backoff_seq_init: " DF_RC "\n", DP_RC(rc));
+		for (;;) {
+			rc = ds_rsvc_dist_start(svc->s_class, &svc->s_id, svc->s_db_uuid, &rl,
+						svc->s_term, DS_RSVC_CREATE, &create_params);
+			if (!daos_rpc_retryable_rc(rc) || abort == NULL)
+				break;
+			if (abort(abort_arg)) {
+				rc = -DER_OP_CANCELED;
+				break;
+			}
+			DL_INFO(rc, "%s: retrying to create replica " RDB_F_RID, svc->s_name,
+				RDB_P_RID(id));
+			dss_sleep(d_backoff_seq_next(&backoff_seq) * 1000);
+		}
+		d_backoff_seq_fini(&backoff_seq);
 		if (rc != 0)
 			break;
 
@@ -1277,7 +1297,8 @@ ds_rsvc_add_replicas(enum ds_rsvc_class_id class, d_iov_t *id, d_rank_list_t *ra
 	rc = ds_rsvc_lookup_leader(class, id, &svc, hint);
 	if (rc != 0)
 		return rc;
-	rc = ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(svc, ranks, size, vos_df_version);
+	rc = ds_rsvc_add_replicas_s(svc, ranks, size, vos_df_version, NULL /* abort */,
+				    NULL /* abort_arg */);
 	ds_rsvc_set_hint(svc, hint);
 	ds_rsvc_put_leader(svc);
 	return rc;
@@ -1383,25 +1404,26 @@ enum rdb_stop_flag {
  * filter_ranks only.
  */
 static int
-bcast_create(crt_opcode_t opc, bool filter_invert, d_rank_list_t *filter_ranks,
-	     crt_rpc_t **rpc)
+bcast_create(crt_opcode_t opc, bool filter_invert, d_rank_list_t *filter_ranks, crt_rpc_t **rpc)
 {
 	struct dss_module_info *info = dss_get_module_info();
-	crt_opcode_t		opc_full;
+	crt_opcode_t            opc_full;
 	uint8_t                 rsvc_ver;
+	uint32_t                flags = CRT_RPC_FLAG_CO_FAILOUT;
 	int                     rc;
 
 	rc = ds_rsvc_rpc_protocol(&rsvc_ver);
-	if (rc)
+	if (rc != 0)
 		return rc;
-
-	D_ASSERT(!filter_invert || filter_ranks != NULL);
 	opc_full = DAOS_RPC_OPCODE(opc, DAOS_RSVC_MODULE, rsvc_ver);
-	return crt_corpc_req_create(info->dmi_ctx, NULL /* grp */,
-				    filter_ranks, opc_full,
-				    NULL /* co_bulk_hdl */, NULL /* priv */,
-				    filter_invert ?
-				    CRT_RPC_FLAG_FILTER_INVERT : 0,
+
+	if (filter_invert) {
+		D_ASSERT(filter_ranks != NULL);
+		flags |= CRT_RPC_FLAG_FILTER_INVERT;
+	}
+
+	return crt_corpc_req_create(info->dmi_ctx, NULL /* grp */, filter_ranks, opc_full,
+				    NULL /* co_bulk_hdl */, NULL /* priv */, flags,
 				    crt_tree_topo(CRT_TREE_KNOMIAL, 2), rpc);
 }