diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme.c b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
index 213166bcc..4ca915cbe 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 struct nvme_driver g_nvme_driver = {
 	.lock = NVME_MUTEX_INITIALIZER,
-	.max_io_queues = NVME_MAX_IO_QUEUES
+	.max_io_queues = DEFAULT_MAX_IO_QUEUES
 };
 
 int32_t		nvme_retry_count;
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index 29f32e339..219414eb5 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -95,6 +95,13 @@
 /* Maximum log page size to fetch for AERs. */
 #define NVME_MAX_AER_LOG_SIZE		(4096)
 
+/*
+ * NVME_MAX_IO_QUEUES in nvme_spec.h defines the 64K spec-limit, but this
+ *  define specifies the maximum number of queues this driver will actually
+ *  try to configure, if available.
+ */
+#define DEFAULT_MAX_IO_QUEUES		(1024)
+
 struct nvme_request {
 	struct nvme_command		cmd;
 
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 f58f6666b..804403344 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
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 
 struct nvme_driver g_nvme_driver = {
 	.lock = NVME_MUTEX_INITIALIZER,
-	.max_io_queues = NVME_MAX_IO_QUEUES
+	.max_io_queues = DEFAULT_MAX_IO_QUEUES
 };
 
 char outbuf[OUTBUF_SIZE];
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 3efec1603..f2e938dab 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
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 
 struct nvme_driver g_nvme_driver = {
 	.lock = NVME_MUTEX_INITIALIZER,
-	.max_io_queues = NVME_MAX_IO_QUEUES,
+	.max_io_queues = DEFAULT_MAX_IO_QUEUES,
 };
 
 int32_t nvme_retry_count = 1;