diff --git a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_command_sender.cpp b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_command_sender.cpp
index cc9b49b2a8..3ce060f9b3 100644
--- a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_command_sender.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_command_sender.cpp
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ void MavlinkCommandSender::check_timeout(mavlink_channel_t channel)
 			}
 		}
 
-		if (item->num_sent_per_channel[channel] < max_sent) {
+		if (item->num_sent_per_channel[channel] < max_sent && item->num_sent_per_channel[channel] != -1) {
 			// We are behind and need to do a retransmission.
 			mavlink_msg_command_long_send_struct(channel, &item->command);
 			item->num_sent_per_channel[channel]++;