diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index 6050ea74a..32aaeb6f0 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -492,7 +492,8 @@ int	nvme_ctrlr_submit_admin_request(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 int	nvme_ctrlr_get_cap(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, union spdk_nvme_cap_register *cap);
 int	nvme_qpair_construct(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint16_t id,
 			     uint16_t num_entries,
-			     struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr);
+			     struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
+			     enum spdk_nvme_qprio qprio);
 void	nvme_qpair_destroy(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair);
 void	nvme_qpair_enable(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair);
 void	nvme_qpair_disable(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair);
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c
index 7c3d54505..a0a74684e 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c
@@ -430,7 +430,8 @@ nvme_pcie_ctrlr_construct_admin_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
 	return nvme_qpair_construct(ctrlr->adminq,
 				    0, /* qpair ID */
 				    NVME_ADMIN_ENTRIES,
-				    ctrlr);
+				    ctrlr,
+				    SPDK_NVME_QPRIO_URGENT);
 }
 
 static struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *nvme_pcie_ctrlr_construct(void *devhandle)
@@ -1059,9 +1060,6 @@ nvme_pcie_ctrlr_create_io_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, uint16_t qid,
 
 	qpair = &pqpair->qpair;
 
-	qpair->id = qid;
-	qpair->qprio = qprio;
-
 	/*
 	 * NVMe spec sets a hard limit of 64K max entries, but
 	 *  devices may specify a smaller limit, so we need to check
@@ -1069,7 +1067,7 @@ nvme_pcie_ctrlr_create_io_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, uint16_t qid,
 	 */
 	num_entries = nvme_min(NVME_IO_ENTRIES, ctrlr->cap.bits.mqes + 1);
 
-	rc = nvme_qpair_construct(qpair, qid, num_entries, ctrlr);
+	rc = nvme_qpair_construct(qpair, qid, num_entries, ctrlr, qprio);
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		free(pqpair);
 		return NULL;
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
index 2513fa18d..60a327f70 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
@@ -336,13 +336,14 @@ spdk_nvme_qpair_process_completions(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint32_t max_
 int
 nvme_qpair_construct(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint16_t id,
 		     uint16_t num_entries,
-		     struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
+		     struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
+		     enum spdk_nvme_qprio qprio)
 {
 	assert(num_entries != 0);
 
 	qpair->id = id;
 	qpair->num_entries = num_entries;
-	qpair->qprio = 0;
+	qpair->qprio = qprio;
 
 	qpair->ctrlr = ctrlr;
 	qpair->transport = ctrlr->transport;
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
index 4076de276..bd4b73f5c 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
@@ -177,11 +177,12 @@ static const struct spdk_nvme_transport nvme_ctrlr_ut_transport = {
 
 int nvme_qpair_construct(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint16_t id,
 			 uint16_t num_entries,
-			 struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
+			 struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
+			 enum spdk_nvme_qprio qprio)
 {
 	qpair->id = id;
 	qpair->num_entries = num_entries;
-	qpair->qprio = 0;
+	qpair->qprio = qprio;
 	qpair->ctrlr = ctrlr;
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c
index 0cdebe9be..6402343c8 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ prepare_submit_request_test(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair,
 	ctrlr->transport = &nvme_qpair_ut_transport;
 	ctrlr->free_io_qids = NULL;
 	TAILQ_INIT(&ctrlr->active_io_qpairs);
-	nvme_qpair_construct(qpair, 1, 128, ctrlr);
+	nvme_qpair_construct(qpair, 1, 128, ctrlr, 0);
 
 	ut_fail_vtophys = false;
 }