diff --git a/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util.go b/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util.go
index e842ce4c4c9e..c3b570e39f40 100644
--- a/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util.go
+++ b/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util.go
@@ -79,7 +79,11 @@ func RequestDidNotStart(err error) bool {
 		// This is a non-gRPC error; assume nothing.
 		return false
 	}
-	if s.Code() == codes.Unavailable && s.Message() == "grpc: the connection is unavailable" {
+	// TODO(bdarnell): In gRPC 1.7, we have no good way to distinguish
+	// ambiguous from unambiguous failures, so we must assume all gRPC
+	// errors are ambiguous.
+	// https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/issues/19708#issuecomment-343891640
+	if false && s.Code() == codes.Unavailable && s.Message() == "grpc: the connection is unavailable" {
 		return true
 	}
 	return false
diff --git a/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util_test.go b/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util_test.go
index 73e158e31732..37fc78d56444 100644
--- a/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/grpcutil/grpc_util_test.go
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ func (hs healthServer) Check(
 func TestRequestDidNotStart(t *testing.T) {
 	defer leaktest.AfterTest(t)()
 
+	t.Skip("https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/issues/19708")
+
 	lis, err := net.Listen("tcp", "127.0.0.1:0")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)