diff --git a/lib/idxd/idxd.c b/lib/idxd/idxd.c
index d94bd39f1..9db2d9723 100644
--- a/lib/idxd/idxd.c
+++ b/lib/idxd/idxd.c
@@ -1397,6 +1397,10 @@ spdk_idxd_process_events(struct spdk_idxd_io_channel *chan)
 
 		/* reset the status */
 		status = 0;
+		/* break the processing loop to prevent from starving the rest of the system */
+		if (rc > DESC_PER_BATCH) {
+			break;
+		}
 	}
 
 	/* Submit any built-up batch */