A method for verifying the integrity of a communication link is disclosed herein. In selected embodiments, such a method may include detecting, during normal operation of a communication link, a condition indicative of a high failure rate (HFR) on the communication link. The method may further include placing the communication link in an HFR state as a result of the condition. While in HFR state, the method may repeatedly transmit test I/Os over the communication link. The method may then automatically exit HFR state and resume normal operation on the communication link when one or more of the following has occurred: a selected number of test I/Os have been successfully transmitted over the communication link, and a number of test I/Os have been successfully transmitted over the communication link for a selected period of time. A corresponding system, apparatus, and computer program product are also disclosed and claimed herein.