diff --git a/ompi/mca/mtl/mx/mtl_mx.c b/ompi/mca/mtl/mx/mtl_mx.c
index e5fb458b04..28af18938f 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/mtl/mx/mtl_mx.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/mtl/mx/mtl_mx.c
@@ -151,6 +151,16 @@ ompi_mtl_mx_add_procs(struct mca_mtl_base_module_t *mtl,
         mtl_peer_data[i] =  (struct mca_mtl_base_endpoint_t*) 
             mtl_mx_endpoint;
     }
+
+    /* because mx_connect isn't an interupting function, need to
+       progress MX as often as possible during the stage gate 2.  This
+       would have happened after the stage gate anyway, so we're just
+       speeding things up a bit. */
+#if OMPI_ENABLE_PROGRESS_THREADS == 0
+    /* switch from letting us sit in the event library for a bit each
+       time through opal_progress() to completely non-blocking */
+    opal_progress_set_event_flag(OPAL_EVLOOP_NONBLOCK);
+#endif
     
     return OMPI_SUCCESS;
 }