diff --git a/daemons/controld/controld_attrd.c b/daemons/controld/controld_attrd.c
index 3443a1c6a7..f0f2ce69a9 100644
--- a/daemons/controld/controld_attrd.c
+++ b/daemons/controld/controld_attrd.c
@@ -1,183 +1,196 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2006-2022 the Pacemaker project contributors
  *
  * The version control history for this file may have further details.
  *
  * This source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
  * or later (GPLv2+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
  */
 
 #include <crm_internal.h>
 
 #include <crm/crm.h>
 #include <crm/common/attrd_internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/ipc.h>
 #include <crm/common/ipc_attrd_internal.h>
 #include <crm/msg_xml.h>
 
 #include <pacemaker-controld.h>
 
 static pcmk_ipc_api_t *attrd_api = NULL;
 
 enum attrd_command {
     cmd_clear,
     cmd_purge,
     cmd_update
 };
 
 void
 controld_close_attrd_ipc(void)
 {
     if (attrd_api != NULL) {
         crm_trace("Closing connection to pacemaker-attrd");
         pcmk_disconnect_ipc(attrd_api);
         pcmk_free_ipc_api(attrd_api);
         attrd_api = NULL;
     }
 }
 
 static inline const char *
 node_type(bool is_remote)
 {
     return is_remote? "Pacemaker Remote" : "cluster";
 }
 
 static inline const char *
 when(void)
 {
     return pcmk_is_set(fsa_input_register, R_SHUTDOWN)? " at shutdown" : "";
 }
 
 static void
 handle_attr_error(void)
 {
     if (AM_I_DC) {
         /* We are unable to provide accurate information to the
          * scheduler, so allow another node to take over DC.
          * @TODO Should we do this unconditionally on any failure?
          */
         crmd_exit(CRM_EX_FATAL);
 
     } else if (pcmk_is_set(fsa_input_register, R_SHUTDOWN)) {
         // Fast-track shutdown since unable to request via attribute
         register_fsa_input(C_FSA_INTERNAL, I_FAIL, NULL);
     }
 }
 
 static void
 log_attrd_error(const char *host, const char *name, const char *value,
                 gboolean is_remote, enum attrd_command command, int rc)
 {
     switch (command) {
         case cmd_clear:
             crm_err("Could not clear failure attributes for %s on %s node %s%s: %s "
                     CRM_XS " rc=%d", (name? name : "all resources"),
                     node_type(is_remote), host, when(), pcmk_rc_str(rc), rc);
             break;
 
         case cmd_purge:
             crm_err("Could not purge %s node %s in attribute manager%s: %s "
                     CRM_XS " rc=%d",
                     node_type(is_remote), host, when(), pcmk_rc_str(rc), rc);
             break;
 
         case cmd_update:
             /* We weren't able to update an attribute after several retries,
              * so something is horribly wrong with the attribute manager or the
              * underlying system.
              */
             do_crm_log(AM_I_DC? LOG_CRIT : LOG_ERR,
                        "Could not update attribute %s=%s for %s node %s%s: %s "
                        CRM_XS " rc=%d", name, value, node_type(is_remote), host,
                        when(), pcmk_rc_str(rc), rc);
             handle_attr_error();
             break;
     }
 }
 
 static void
 update_attrd_helper(const char *host, const char *name, const char *value,
                     const char *interval_spec, const char *user_name,
                     gboolean is_remote_node, enum attrd_command command)
 {
     int rc;
     int attrd_opts = pcmk__node_attr_none;
 
     if (is_remote_node) {
         pcmk__set_node_attr_flags(attrd_opts, pcmk__node_attr_remote);
     }
 
     if (attrd_api == NULL) {
         rc = pcmk_new_ipc_api(&attrd_api, pcmk_ipc_attrd);
 
         if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
             log_attrd_error(host, name, value, is_remote_node, command, rc);
             return;
         }
     }
 
     switch (command) {
         case cmd_clear:
             /* name/value is really resource/operation */
             rc = pcmk__attrd_api_clear_failures(attrd_api, host, name,
                                                 value, interval_spec,
                                                 user_name, attrd_opts);
             break;
 
         case cmd_update:
             rc = pcmk__attrd_api_update(attrd_api, host, name, value,
                                         NULL, NULL, user_name,
                                         attrd_opts | pcmk__node_attr_value);
             break;
 
         case cmd_purge:
             rc = pcmk__attrd_api_purge(attrd_api, host);
             break;
     }
 
     if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
         log_attrd_error(host, name, value, is_remote_node, command, rc);
     }
 }
 
 void
 update_attrd(const char *host, const char *name, const char *value,
              const char *user_name, gboolean is_remote_node)
 {
     update_attrd_helper(host, name, value, NULL, user_name, is_remote_node,
                         cmd_update);
 }
 
 void
 update_attrd_list(GList *attrs, uint32_t opts)
 {
-    pcmk__attrd_api_update_list(attrd_api, attrs, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-                                opts | pcmk__node_attr_value);
+    int rc = pcmk_rc_ok;
+
+    if (attrd_api == NULL) {
+        rc = pcmk_new_ipc_api(&attrd_api, pcmk_ipc_attrd);
+    }
+    if (rc == pcmk_rc_ok) {
+        rc = pcmk__attrd_api_update_list(attrd_api, attrs, NULL, NULL, NULL,
+                                         opts | pcmk__node_attr_value);
+    }
+    if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
+        do_crm_log(AM_I_DC? LOG_CRIT : LOG_ERR,
+                   "Could not update multiple node attributes: %s "
+                   CRM_XS " rc=%d", pcmk_rc_str(rc), rc);
+        handle_attr_error();
+    }
 }
 
 void
 update_attrd_remote_node_removed(const char *host, const char *user_name)
 {
     crm_trace("Asking attribute manager to purge Pacemaker Remote node %s",
               host);
     update_attrd_helper(host, NULL, NULL, NULL, user_name, TRUE, cmd_purge);
 }
 
 void
 update_attrd_clear_failures(const char *host, const char *rsc, const char *op,
                             const char *interval_spec, gboolean is_remote_node)
 {
     const char *op_desc = NULL;
     const char *interval_desc = NULL;
 
     if (op) {
         interval_desc = interval_spec? interval_spec : "nonrecurring";
         op_desc = op;
     } else {
         interval_desc = "all";
         op_desc = "operations";
     }
     crm_info("Asking pacemaker-attrd to clear failure of %s %s for %s on %s node %s",
              interval_desc, op_desc, rsc, node_type(is_remote_node), host);
     update_attrd_helper(host, rsc, op, interval_spec, NULL, is_remote_node, cmd_clear);
 }