diff --git a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
index 2a55c9ad8..07dd6a764 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
@@ -772,6 +772,10 @@ associate_workers_with_ns(void)
 	count = g_num_namespaces > g_num_workers ? g_num_namespaces : g_num_workers;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+		if (entry == NULL) {
+			break;
+		}
+
 		ns_ctx = malloc(sizeof(struct ns_worker_ctx));
 		if (!ns_ctx) {
 			return -1;