diff -r 466c0828c525 sys/dev/cxgbe/t4_main.c
--- a/sys/dev/cxgbe/t4_main.c	Tue May 15 22:26:09 2018 +0000
+++ b/sys/dev/cxgbe/t4_main.c	Tue May 15 16:44:40 2018 -0700
@@ -3453,8 +3453,30 @@ use_config_on_flash:
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		device_printf(sc->dev,
 		    "failed to pre-process config file: %d "
-		    "(mtype %d, moff 0x%x).\n", rc, mtype, moff);
-		goto done;
+		    "(mtype %d, moff 0x%x).  Will reset the firmware and retry "
+		    "with the built-in configuration.\n", rc, mtype, moff);
+
+	    	rc = -t4_fw_reset(sc, sc->mbox, F_PIORSTMODE | F_PIORST);
+		if (rc != 0) {
+			device_printf(sc->dev,
+			    "firmware reset failed: %d.\n", rc);
+			if (rc != ETIMEDOUT && rc != EIO) {
+				t4_fw_bye(sc, sc->mbox);
+				sc->flags &= ~FW_OK;
+			}
+			goto done;
+		}
+		snprintf(sc->cfg_file, sizeof(sc->cfg_file), "%s", "built-in");
+		bzero(&caps, sizeof(caps));
+		caps.op_to_write = htobe32(V_FW_CMD_OP(FW_CAPS_CONFIG_CMD) |
+		    F_FW_CMD_REQUEST | F_FW_CMD_READ);
+		caps.cfvalid_to_len16 = htobe32(FW_LEN16(caps));
+		rc = t4_wr_mbox(sc, sc->mbox, &caps, sizeof(caps), &caps);
+		if (rc != 0) {
+			device_printf(sc->dev,
+			    "built-in configuration failed: %d.\n", rc);
+			goto done;
+		}
 	}
 
 	finicsum = be32toh(caps.finicsum);