diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
index 1a87b1382..7381f70d6 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
@@ -240,10 +240,10 @@ nvme_fabric_ctrlr_scan(struct spdk_nvme_probe_ctx *probe_ctx,
 	discovery_opts.keep_alive_timeout_ms = 0;
 
 	discovery_ctrlr = nvme_transport_ctrlr_construct(&probe_ctx->trid, &discovery_opts, NULL);
-	nvme_qpair_set_state(discovery_ctrlr->adminq, NVME_QPAIR_ENABLED);
 	if (discovery_ctrlr == NULL) {
 		return -1;
 	}
+	nvme_qpair_set_state(discovery_ctrlr->adminq, NVME_QPAIR_ENABLED);
 
 	/* TODO: this should be using the normal NVMe controller initialization process +1 */
 	cc.raw = 0;