diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
index 1c9c4bd86..1cab0b218 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
@@ -471,7 +471,9 @@ spdk_nvme_qpair_process_completions(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint32_t max_
 	ret = nvme_transport_qpair_process_completions(qpair, max_completions);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("CQ error, abort requests after transport retry counter exceeded\n");
-		nvme_ctrlr_fail(qpair->ctrlr, false);
+		if (nvme_qpair_is_admin_queue(qpair)) {
+			nvme_ctrlr_fail(qpair->ctrlr, false);
+		}
 	}
 	qpair->in_completion_context = 0;
 	if (qpair->delete_after_completion_context) {