diff --git a/lib/bdev/null/bdev_null.c b/lib/bdev/null/bdev_null.c
index 7fdc968e4..16fce54a2 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/null/bdev_null.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/null/bdev_null.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 #include "spdk/thread.h"
 #include "spdk/json.h"
 #include "spdk/string.h"
+#include "spdk/likely.h"
 
 #include "spdk/bdev_module.h"
 #include "spdk_internal/log.h"
@@ -93,8 +94,17 @@ bdev_null_submit_request(struct spdk_io_channel *_ch, struct spdk_bdev_io *bdev_
 	case SPDK_BDEV_IO_TYPE_READ:
 		if (bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs[0].iov_base == NULL) {
 			assert(bdev_io->u.bdev.iovcnt == 1);
-			bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs[0].iov_base = g_null_read_buf;
-			bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs[0].iov_len = bdev_io->u.bdev.num_blocks * bdev_io->bdev->blocklen;
+			if (spdk_likely(bdev_io->u.bdev.num_blocks * bdev_io->bdev->blocklen <=
+					SPDK_BDEV_LARGE_BUF_MAX_SIZE)) {
+				bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs[0].iov_base = g_null_read_buf;
+				bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs[0].iov_len = bdev_io->u.bdev.num_blocks * bdev_io->bdev->blocklen;
+			} else {
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("Overflow occurred. Read I/O size %" PRIu64 " was larger than permitted %d\n",
+					    bdev_io->u.bdev.num_blocks * bdev_io->bdev->blocklen,
+					    SPDK_BDEV_LARGE_BUF_MAX_SIZE);
+				spdk_bdev_io_complete(bdev_io, SPDK_BDEV_IO_STATUS_FAILED);
+				return;
+			}
 		}
 		TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&ch->io, bdev_io, module_link);
 		break;