diff --git a/.gitlab/test_ep.sh b/.gitlab/test_ep.sh
index b5fafa059e..56378cce07 100755
--- a/.gitlab/test_ep.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/test_ep.sh
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ run_elastic_test() {
         unset UCX_NET_DEVICES  # let UCX auto-select GPU-capable transport
         # Force NVLink-only transports.
         if [[ "$extra_flags" != *--disable-ll-nvlink* ]]; then
-            export UCX_TLS=cuda_copy,cuda_ipc,sm,self
+            export UCX_TLS=^rc_gda
         fi
         PYTHONPATH="${NIXL_BUILD_DIR}/${EP_SRC_DIR}:${EP_SRC_DIR}/tests:${EP_SRC_DIR}/tests/elastic${PYTHONPATH:+:$PYTHONPATH}" \
         timeout 300 python3 ${EP_SRC_DIR}/tests/elastic/elastic.py \
diff --git a/examples/device/ep/csrc/nixl_ep.cpp b/examples/device/ep/csrc/nixl_ep.cpp
index de5db4a0d2..5594c0aed3 100644
--- a/examples/device/ep/csrc/nixl_ep.cpp
+++ b/examples/device/ep/csrc/nixl_ep.cpp
@@ -1407,7 +1407,8 @@ void Buffer::_nixl_agent_init() {
 
     const char* num_channels_env = std::getenv("NIXL_EP_NUM_CHANNELS");
     init_params["ucx_num_device_channels"] = num_channels_env ? num_channels_env : "4";
-    init_params["ucx_error_handling_mode"] = "none";
+    init_params["ucx_error_handling_mode"] = "peer";
+    init_params["ucx_ep_close_force"] = "yes";
     init_params["num_workers"] = std::to_string(1);
 
     nixlBackendH* ucx_backend = nullptr;
diff --git a/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_backend.cpp b/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_backend.cpp
index 8f8835c32a..39089e1288 100644
--- a/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_backend.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_backend.cpp
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@
 #include "absl/strings/str_split.h"
 #include <asio.hpp>
 
+namespace {
+[[nodiscard]] uint32_t
+epCloseFlags(const nixl_b_params_t *custom_params) {
+    return nixl::getBackendParamDefaulted(custom_params, "ucx_ep_close_force", false) ?
+        UCP_EP_CLOSE_FLAG_FORCE :
+        0;
+}
+} // namespace
+
 /****************************************
  * Backend request management
 *****************************************/
@@ -823,6 +832,8 @@ nixlUcxEngine::nixlUcxEngine(const nixlBackendInitParams &init_params)
         err_handling_mode = ucx_err_mode_from_string(*opt);
     }
 
+    const uint32_t ep_close_flags = epCloseFlags(custom_params);
+
     const auto engine_config =
         nixl::getBackendParamDefaulted(custom_params, "engine_config", std::string());
 
@@ -836,7 +847,7 @@ nixlUcxEngine::nixlUcxEngine(const nixlBackendInitParams &init_params)
     uc->warnAboutHardwareSupportMismatch();
 
     for (size_t i = 0; i < num_workers; i++) {
-        uws.emplace_back(std::make_unique<nixlUcxWorker>(*uc, err_handling_mode));
+        uws.emplace_back(std::make_unique<nixlUcxWorker>(*uc, err_handling_mode, ep_close_flags));
     }
 
     auto &uw = uws.front();
diff --git a/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.cpp b/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.cpp
index a0ad10bd56..a2ed24551b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.cpp
@@ -121,9 +121,10 @@ nixlUcxEp::setState(nixl::ucx::ep_state_t new_state) {
 }
 
 nixl_status_t
-nixlUcxEp::closeImpl(ucp_ep_close_flags_t flags) {
+nixlUcxEp::closeImpl() {
     ucs_status_ptr_t request = nullptr;
-    ucp_request_param_t req_param = {.op_attr_mask = UCP_OP_ATTR_FIELD_FLAGS, .flags = flags};
+    const ucp_request_param_t req_param = {.op_attr_mask = UCP_OP_ATTR_FIELD_FLAGS,
+                                           .flags = closeFlags_};
 
     switch (state) {
     case nixl::ucx::ep_state_t::UNINITIALIZED:
@@ -156,7 +157,11 @@ nixlUcxEp::closeImpl(ucp_ep_close_flags_t flags) {
     std::terminate();
 }
 
-nixlUcxEp::nixlUcxEp(ucp_worker_h worker, void *addr, ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode) {
+nixlUcxEp::nixlUcxEp(ucp_worker_h worker,
+                     void *addr,
+                     ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode,
+                     uint32_t close_flags)
+    : closeFlags_{close_flags} {
     ucp_ep_params_t ep_params;
     nixl_status_t status;
 
@@ -185,7 +190,7 @@ nixlUcxEp::~nixlUcxEp() {
 
 nixl_status_t
 nixlUcxEp::disconnect_nb() {
-    nixl_status_t status = closeImpl(ucp_ep_close_flags_t(0));
+    const nixl_status_t status = closeImpl();
 
     // At step of disconnect we can ignore the remote disconnect error.
     return (status == NIXL_ERR_REMOTE_DISCONNECT) ? NIXL_SUCCESS : status;
@@ -517,9 +522,12 @@ nixlUcxWorker::createUcpWorker(const nixlUcxContext &ctx) {
     return worker;
 }
 
-nixlUcxWorker::nixlUcxWorker(const nixlUcxContext &ctx, ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode)
+nixlUcxWorker::nixlUcxWorker(const nixlUcxContext &ctx,
+                             ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode,
+                             uint32_t ep_close_flags)
     : worker(createUcpWorker(ctx), &ucp_worker_destroy),
-      err_handling_mode_(err_handling_mode) {}
+      err_handling_mode_(err_handling_mode),
+      epCloseFlags_(ep_close_flags) {}
 
 std::string
 nixlUcxWorker::epAddr() {
@@ -540,7 +548,7 @@ nixlUcxWorker::epAddr() {
 std::unique_ptr<nixlUcxEp>
 nixlUcxWorker::connect(void *addr, std::size_t size) {
     try {
-        return std::make_unique<nixlUcxEp>(worker.get(), addr, err_handling_mode_);
+        return std::make_unique<nixlUcxEp>(worker.get(), addr, err_handling_mode_, epCloseFlags_);
     }
     catch (const std::exception &e) {
         NIXL_ERROR << "UCX endpoint create failed: " << e.what();
diff --git a/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.h b/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.h
index f22fd7b327..6c928461bd 100644
--- a/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.h
+++ b/src/plugins/ucx/ucx_utils.h
@@ -45,11 +45,12 @@ class nixlUcxEp {
 private:
     ucp_ep_h eph{nullptr};
     nixl::ucx::ep_state_t state = nixl::ucx::ep_state_t::UNINITIALIZED;
+    const uint32_t closeFlags_;
 
     void
     setState(nixl::ucx::ep_state_t new_state);
     nixl_status_t
-    closeImpl(ucp_ep_close_flags_t flags);
+    closeImpl();
 
     /* Connection */
     nixl_status_t
@@ -67,7 +68,10 @@ class nixlUcxEp {
         return nixl::ucx::toNixlStatus(state);
     }
 
-    nixlUcxEp(ucp_worker_h worker, void *addr, ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode);
+    nixlUcxEp(ucp_worker_h worker,
+              void *addr,
+              ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode,
+              uint32_t close_flags);
     ~nixlUcxEp();
     nixlUcxEp(const nixlUcxEp &) = delete;
     nixlUcxEp &
@@ -187,7 +191,8 @@ class nixlUcxWorker {
 public:
     explicit nixlUcxWorker(
         const nixlUcxContext &,
-        ucp_err_handling_mode_t ucp_err_handling_mode = UCP_ERR_HANDLING_MODE_NONE);
+        ucp_err_handling_mode_t ucp_err_handling_mode = UCP_ERR_HANDLING_MODE_NONE,
+        uint32_t ep_close_flags = 0);
 
     nixlUcxWorker(nixlUcxWorker &&) = delete;
     nixlUcxWorker(const nixlUcxWorker &) = delete;
@@ -241,7 +246,8 @@ class nixlUcxWorker {
     createUcpWorker(const nixlUcxContext &);
 
     const std::unique_ptr<ucp_worker, void (*)(ucp_worker *)> worker;
-    ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode_;
+    const ucp_err_handling_mode_t err_handling_mode_;
+    const uint32_t epCloseFlags_;
 };
 
 [[nodiscard]] nixl_b_params_t