diff --git a/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c b/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
index dd75448d4..bc2c61b80 100644
--- a/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
+++ b/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
@@ -210,6 +210,13 @@ bdev_nvme_poll_adminq(void *arg)
 {
 	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr = arg;
 
+	/* Process io messages that were passed from non-polled mode threads
+	 * to this ctrlr. This is used as part of nvme cuse support for surfacing
+	 * /dev nodes that can be used by standard Linux management applications
+	 * like nvme-cli.
+	 */
+	spdk_nvme_io_msg_process(ctrlr);
+
 	return spdk_nvme_ctrlr_process_admin_completions(ctrlr);
 }