diff --git a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc
index db33697f4..74c9cddc5 100644
--- a/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc
+++ b/server/modules/protocol/MySQL/mariadb_client.cc
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ void LocalClient::process(uint32_t events)
         error();
     }
 
-    if (m_queue.size() && m_state != VC_ERROR)
+    if (m_queue.size() && m_state != VC_ERROR && m_state != VC_WAITING_HANDSHAKE)
     {
         drain_queue();
     }