/* device supports and needs bigger sense buffer */
                if (us->fflags & US_FL_SANE_SENSE)
                        sense_size = ~0;
-
+Retry_Sense:
                US_DEBUGP("Issuing auto-REQUEST_SENSE\n");
 
                scsi_eh_prep_cmnd(srb, &ses, NULL, 0, sense_size);
                        srb->result = DID_ABORT << 16;
                        goto Handle_Errors;
                }
+
+               /* Some devices claim to support larger sense but fail when
+                * trying to request it. When a transport failure happens
+                * using US_FS_SANE_SENSE, we always retry with a standard
+                * (small) sense request. This fixes some USB GSM modems
+                */
+               if (temp_result == USB_STOR_TRANSPORT_FAILED &&
+                   (us->fflags & US_FL_SANE_SENSE) &&
+                   sense_size != US_SENSE_SIZE) {
+                       US_DEBUGP("-- auto-sense failure, retry small sense\n");
+                       sense_size = US_SENSE_SIZE;
+                       goto Retry_Sense;
+               }
+
+               /* Other failures */
                if (temp_result != USB_STOR_TRANSPORT_GOOD) {
                        US_DEBUGP("-- auto-sense failure\n");