diff --git a/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-client.ts b/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-client.ts
index 439ed80e..2dfa4123 100644
--- a/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-client.ts
+++ b/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-client.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 import * as protoLoader from '@grpc/proto-loader';
 // This is a non-public, unstable API, but it's very convenient
 import { loadProtosWithOptionsSync } from '@grpc/proto-loader/build/src/util';
-import { loadPackageDefinition, StatusObject, status, logVerbosity, Metadata, experimental, ChannelOptions, ClientDuplexStream, ServiceError, ChannelCredentials, Channel } from '@grpc/grpc-js';
+import { loadPackageDefinition, StatusObject, status, logVerbosity, Metadata, experimental, ChannelOptions, ClientDuplexStream, ServiceError, ChannelCredentials, Channel, connectivityState } from '@grpc/grpc-js';
 import * as adsTypes from './generated/ads';
 import * as lrsTypes from './generated/lrs';
 import { loadBootstrapInfo } from './xds-bootstrap';
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ export class XdsClient {
     DiscoveryRequest,
     DiscoveryResponse__Output
   > | null = null;
+  private receivedAdsResponseOnCurrentStream = false;
 
   private lrsNode: Node | null = null;
   private lrsClient: LoadReportingServiceClient | null = null;
@@ -373,6 +374,9 @@ export class XdsClient {
           {channelOverride: channel}
         );
         this.maybeStartAdsStream();
+        channel.watchConnectivityState(channel.getConnectivityState(false), Infinity, () => {
+          this.handleAdsConnectivityStateUpdate();
+        })
 
         this.lrsClient = new protoDefinitions.envoy.service.load_stats.v3.LoadReportingService(
           serverUri,
@@ -394,7 +398,29 @@ export class XdsClient {
     clearInterval(this.statsTimer);
   }
 
+  private handleAdsConnectivityStateUpdate() {
+    if (!this.adsClient) {
+      return;
+    }
+    const state = this.adsClient.getChannel().getConnectivityState(false);
+    if (state === connectivityState.READY && this.adsCall) {
+      this.reportAdsStreamStarted();
+    }
+    if (state === connectivityState.TRANSIENT_FAILURE) {
+      this.reportStreamError({
+        code: status.UNAVAILABLE,
+        details: 'No connection established to xDS server',
+        metadata: new Metadata()
+      });
+    }
+    this.adsClient.getChannel().watchConnectivityState(state, Infinity, () => {
+      this.handleAdsConnectivityStateUpdate();
+    });
+  }
+
   private handleAdsResponse(message: DiscoveryResponse__Output) {
+    this.receivedAdsResponseOnCurrentStream = true;
+    this.adsBackoff.reset();
     let handleResponseResult: {
       result: HandleResponseResult;
       serviceKind: AdsServiceKind;
@@ -466,7 +492,7 @@ export class XdsClient {
       'ADS stream ended. code=' + streamStatus.code + ' details= ' + streamStatus.details
     );
     this.adsCall = null;
-    if (streamStatus.code !== status.OK) {
+    if (streamStatus.code !== status.OK && !this.receivedAdsResponseOnCurrentStream) {
       this.reportStreamError(streamStatus);
     }
     /* If the backoff timer is no longer running, we do not need to wait any
@@ -496,7 +522,9 @@ export class XdsClient {
     if (this.adsCall !== null) {
       return;
     }
-    this.adsCall = this.adsClient.StreamAggregatedResources();
+    this.receivedAdsResponseOnCurrentStream = false;
+    const metadata = new Metadata({waitForReady: true});
+    this.adsCall = this.adsClient.StreamAggregatedResources(metadata);
     this.adsCall.on('data', (message: DiscoveryResponse__Output) => {
       this.handleAdsResponse(message);
     });
@@ -515,7 +543,9 @@ export class XdsClient {
         this.updateNames(service);
       }
     }
-    this.reportAdsStreamStarted();
+    if (this.adsClient.getChannel().getConnectivityState(false) === connectivityState.READY) {
+      this.reportAdsStreamStarted();
+    }
   }
 
   private maybeSendAdsMessage(typeUrl: string, resourceNames: string[], responseNonce: string, versionInfo: string, errorMessage?: string) {
@@ -547,10 +577,6 @@ export class XdsClient {
    * version info are updated so that it sends the post-update values.
    */
   ack(serviceKind: AdsServiceKind) {
-    /* An ack is the best indication of a successful interaction between the
-     * client and the server, so we can reset the backoff timer here. */
-    this.adsBackoff.reset();
-
     this.updateNames(serviceKind);
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-stream-state/xds-stream-state.ts b/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-stream-state/xds-stream-state.ts
index 86c2cea4..e20bc7e9 100644
--- a/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-stream-state/xds-stream-state.ts
+++ b/packages/grpc-js-xds/src/xds-stream-state/xds-stream-state.ts
@@ -213,6 +213,9 @@ export abstract class BaseXdsStreamState<ResponseType> implements XdsStreamState
   }
 
   reportAdsStreamStart() {
+    if (this.isAdsStreamRunning) {
+      return;
+    }
     this.isAdsStreamRunning = true;
     for (const subscriptionEntry of this.subscriptions.values()) {
       if (subscriptionEntry.cachedResponse === null) {