diff --git a/src/cart/crt_hg.c b/src/cart/crt_hg.c
index 1f18ac5f3a8..4723ae766e0 100644
--- a/src/cart/crt_hg.c
+++ b/src/cart/crt_hg.c
@@ -1479,6 +1479,9 @@ crt_hg_reply_send(struct crt_rpc_priv *rpc_priv)
 
 	D_ASSERT(rpc_priv != NULL);
 
+	if (rpc_priv->crp_reply_sent != 0)
+		goto out;
+
 	RPC_ADDREF(rpc_priv);
 	hg_ret = HG_Respond(rpc_priv->crp_hg_hdl, crt_hg_reply_send_cb,
 			    rpc_priv, &rpc_priv->crp_pub.cr_output);
@@ -1490,6 +1493,8 @@ crt_hg_reply_send(struct crt_rpc_priv *rpc_priv)
 		D_GOTO(out, rc = crt_hgret_2_der(hg_ret));
 	}
 
+	rpc_priv->crp_reply_sent = 1;
+
 	/* Release input buffer */
 	if (rpc_priv->crp_release_input_early && !rpc_priv->crp_forward) {
 		hg_ret = HG_Release_input_buf(rpc_priv->crp_hg_hdl);
@@ -1513,6 +1518,9 @@ crt_hg_reply_error_send(struct crt_rpc_priv *rpc_priv, int error_code)
 	D_ASSERT(rpc_priv != NULL);
 	D_ASSERT(error_code != 0);
 
+	if (rpc_priv->crp_reply_sent != 0)
+		return;
+
 	hg_out_struct = &rpc_priv->crp_pub.cr_output;
 	rpc_priv->crp_reply_hdr.cch_rc = error_code;
 	hg_ret = HG_Respond(rpc_priv->crp_hg_hdl, NULL, NULL, hg_out_struct);
@@ -1521,6 +1529,7 @@ crt_hg_reply_error_send(struct crt_rpc_priv *rpc_priv, int error_code)
 			  "HG_Respond failed, hg_ret: " DF_HG_RC "\n",
 			  DP_HG_RC(hg_ret));
 	} else {
+		rpc_priv->crp_reply_sent = 1;
 		RPC_TRACE(DB_NET, rpc_priv,
 			  "Sent CART level error message back to client. error_code: %d\n",
 			  error_code);
diff --git a/src/cart/crt_rpc.h b/src/cart/crt_rpc.h
index 496e15ff164..075154866a3 100644
--- a/src/cart/crt_rpc.h
+++ b/src/cart/crt_rpc.h
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ struct crt_rpc_priv {
 	 * match with crp_req_hdr.cch_flags.
 	 */
 	uint32_t		crp_flags;
+	/* clang-format off */
 	uint32_t                 crp_srv : 1, /* flag of server received request */
 	    crp_output_got : 1, crp_input_got : 1,
 	    /* flag of collective RPC request */
@@ -180,6 +181,8 @@ struct crt_rpc_priv {
 	    crp_in_binheap          : 1,
 	    /* set if a call to crt_req_reply pending */
 	    crp_reply_pending       : 1,
+	    /* set when RPC reply is sent successfully. */
+	    crp_reply_sent          : 1,
 	    /* set to 1 if target ep is set */
 	    crp_have_ep             : 1,
 	    /* RPC is tracked by the context */
@@ -192,6 +195,7 @@ struct crt_rpc_priv {
 	    crp_src_is_primary      : 1,
 	    /* release input buffer early */
 	    crp_release_input_early : 1;
+	/* clang-format on */
 
 	struct crt_opc_info	*crp_opc_info;
 	/* corpc info, only valid when (crp_coll == 1) */
diff --git a/src/chk/chk_rpc.c b/src/chk/chk_rpc.c
index e340d482cec..d90653fffc4 100644
--- a/src/chk/chk_rpc.c
+++ b/src/chk/chk_rpc.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /**
  * (C) Copyright 2022-2024 Intel Corporation.
+ * (C) Copyright 2025 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
  */
@@ -558,6 +559,7 @@ chk_start_remote(d_rank_list_t *rank_list, uint64_t gen, uint32_t rank_nr, d_ran
 		 * Let's trigger it explicitly to release related buffer.
 		 */
 		chk_start_post_reply(req, NULL);
+		crt_req_decref(req);
 
 		if (rc < 0) {
 			rc1 = chk_stop_remote(rank_list, gen, pool_nr, pools, NULL, NULL);
@@ -565,8 +567,6 @@ chk_start_remote(d_rank_list_t *rank_list, uint64_t gen, uint32_t rank_nr, d_ran
 				D_ERROR("Failed to cleanup DAOS check with gen "DF_X64": "DF_RC"\n",
 					gen, DP_RC(rc1));
 		}
-
-		crt_req_decref(req);
 	}
 
 	D_CDEBUG(rc < 0, DLOG_ERR, DLOG_INFO,