A system and method are provided for automatic frequency acquisition maintenance in a clock and data recovery (CDR) device. In an automatic frequency acquisition (AFA) mode, the method uses a phase detector (PHD) to acquire the phase of a non-synchronous input communication signal having an initial first frequency. In the event of a loss of lock/loss of signal (LOL/LOS) signal being asserted, a frequency ratio value is retrieved from memory. Using a phase-frequency detector (PFD), the reference signal, and the frequency ratio value, a synthesized signal is generated. In response to using the PFD to generate the synthesized signal and the LOL/LOS signal being deasserted, a rotational frequency detector (RFD) is used to generate a synthesized signal having a frequency equal to the frequency of the input communication signal. With the continued deassertion of the LOL/LOS signal, the PHD is enabled and the phase of the input signal is acquired.