diff --git a/lib/isc/netmgr/tcp.c b/lib/isc/netmgr/tcp.c
index 1e21c6fe73..ca3ed8b7f4 100644
--- a/lib/isc/netmgr/tcp.c
+++ b/lib/isc/netmgr/tcp.c
@@ -1208,12 +1208,17 @@ tcp_send_direct(isc_nmsocket_t *sock, isc__nm_uvreq_t *req) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	isc_log_write(ISC_LOGCATEGORY_GENERAL, ISC_LOGMODULE_NETMGR,
-		      ISC_LOG_DEBUG(3),
-		      "throttling TCP connection, the other side is not "
-		      "reading the data, switching to uv_write()");
-	sock->reading_throttled = true;
-	isc__nm_stop_reading(sock);
+	if (!sock->client && sock->reading) {
+		sock->reading_throttled = true;
+		isc__nm_stop_reading(sock);
+	}
+
+	isc__nmsocket_log(sock, ISC_LOG_DEBUG(3),
+			  "%sthe other side is not "
+			  "reading the data, switching to uv_write()",
+			  !sock->client && sock->reading
+				  ? "throttling TCP connection, "
+				  : "");
 
 	r = uv_write(&req->uv_req.write, &sock->uv_handle.stream, bufs, nbufs,
 		     tcp_send_cb);