Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for self-pacing DMA data transfer operations for nodes in a parallel computer that include: transferring, by an origin DMA on an origin node, a RTS message to a target node, the RTS message specifying an message on the origin node for transfer to the target node; receiving, in an origin injection FIFO for the origin DMA from a target DMA on the target node in response to transferring the RTS message, a target RGET descriptor followed by a DMA transfer operation descriptor, the DMA descriptor for transmitting a message portion to the target node, the target RGET descriptor specifying an origin RGET descriptor on the origin node that specifies an additional DMA descriptor for transmitting an additional message portion to the target node; processing, by the origin DMA, the target RGET descriptor; and processing, by the origin DMA, the DMA transfer operation descriptor.