diff --git a/pcp/PCPMetric.c b/pcp/PCPMetric.c
index d1afc801..f6d4c97b 100644
--- a/pcp/PCPMetric.c
+++ b/pcp/PCPMetric.c
@@ -164,7 +164,10 @@ bool PCPMetric_fetch(struct timeval* timestamp) {
       pmFreeResult(pcp->result);
       pcp->result = NULL;
    }
-   int sts = pmFetch(pcp->totalMetrics, pcp->fetch, &pcp->result);
+   int sts, count = 0;
+   do {
+       sts = pmFetch(pcp->totalMetrics, pcp->fetch, &pcp->result);
+   } while (sts == PM_ERR_IPC && ++count < 3);
    if (sts < 0) {
       if (pmDebugOptions.appl0)
          fprintf(stderr, "Error: cannot fetch metric values: %s\n",
diff --git a/pcp/PCPProcessList.c b/pcp/PCPProcessList.c
index e324e337..554e43d4 100644
--- a/pcp/PCPProcessList.c
+++ b/pcp/PCPProcessList.c
@@ -680,7 +680,8 @@ void ProcessList_goThroughEntries(ProcessList* super, bool pauseProcessUpdate) {
    PCPMetric_enable(PCP_PROC_SMAPS_SWAPPSS, smaps_flag && enabled);
 
    struct timeval timestamp;
-   PCPMetric_fetch(&timestamp);
+   if (PCPMetric_fetch(&timestamp) != true)
+      return;
 
    double sample = this->timestamp;
    this->timestamp = pmtimevalToReal(&timestamp);