diff --git a/doc/jsonrpc.md b/doc/jsonrpc.md
index 8fb6e3d0f..54555ed7e 100644
--- a/doc/jsonrpc.md
+++ b/doc/jsonrpc.md
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ hosts                   | Optional | array       | Array of strings containing a
 allow_any_host          | Optional | boolean     | Allow any host (`true`) or enforce allowed host whitelist (`false`). Default: `false`.
 serial_number           | Required | string      | Serial number of virtual controller
 namespaces              | Optional | array       | Array of @ref rpc_construct_nvmf_subsystem_namespace objects. Default: No namespaces.
+MaxNamespaces           | Optional | number      | Maximum number of namespaces that can be attached to the subsystem. Default: 0 (Unlimited)
 
 ### listen_address {#rpc_construct_nvmf_subsystem_listen_address}
 
diff --git a/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in b/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
index 66d5fe1bd..a93963908 100644
--- a/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
+++ b/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
@@ -114,11 +114,13 @@
 # - Between 0 and 255 Host directives are allowed. This defines the
 #   NQNs of allowed hosts. If no Host directive is specified, all hosts
 #   are allowed to connect.
-# - Between 0 and 255 Namespace directives are allowed.  These define the
+# - Between 0 and 255 Namespace directives are allowed. These define the
 #   namespaces accessible from this subsystem.
+#   The user must specify MaxNamespaces to allow for adding namespaces
+#   during active connection. By default it is 0
 #   The user must specify a bdev name for each namespace, and may optionally
-#   specify a namespace ID.  If nsid is omitted, the namespace will be
-#   assigned the next available NSID.  The NSID must be unique within the
+#   specify a namespace ID. If nsid is omitted, the namespace will be
+#   assigned the next available NSID. The NSID must be unique within the
 #   subsystem.
 #   Syntax:
 #     Namespace <bdev_name> [<nsid>]
@@ -130,6 +132,7 @@
   AllowAnyHost No
   Host nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:init
   SN SPDK00000000000001
+  MaxNamespaces 20
   Namespace Nvme0n1 1
   Namespace Nvme1n1 2
 
diff --git a/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c b/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c
index a3591dc0c..1b3147bc9 100644
--- a/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c
+++ b/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c
@@ -138,10 +138,16 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_subsystem(struct spdk_conf_section *sp)
 	bool allow_any_host;
 	const char *sn;
 	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem;
+	int num_ns;
 
 	nqn = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "NQN");
 	mode = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "Mode");
 	lcore = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "Core");
+	num_ns = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "MaxNamespaces");
+
+	if (num_ns < 1) {
+		num_ns = 0;
+	}
 
 	/* Mode is no longer a valid parameter, but print out a nice
 	 * message if it exists to inform users.
@@ -173,7 +179,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_subsystem(struct spdk_conf_section *sp)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	subsystem = spdk_nvmf_subsystem_create(g_spdk_nvmf_tgt, nqn, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_NVME, 0);
+	subsystem = spdk_nvmf_subsystem_create(g_spdk_nvmf_tgt, nqn, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_NVME, num_ns);
 	if (subsystem == NULL) {
 		goto done;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/nvmf_rpc.c b/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/nvmf_rpc.c
index bfed7b05c..55a538e3c 100644
--- a/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/nvmf_rpc.c
+++ b/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/nvmf_rpc.c
@@ -532,6 +532,7 @@ struct rpc_subsystem {
 	char *pci_address;
 	char *serial_number;
 	struct rpc_namespaces namespaces;
+	uint32_t num_ns;
 };
 
 static void
@@ -570,6 +571,7 @@ static const struct spdk_json_object_decoder rpc_subsystem_decoders[] = {
 	{"allow_any_host", offsetof(struct rpc_subsystem, allow_any_host), spdk_json_decode_bool, true},
 	{"serial_number", offsetof(struct rpc_subsystem, serial_number), spdk_json_decode_string, true},
 	{"namespaces", offsetof(struct rpc_subsystem, namespaces), decode_rpc_namespaces, true},
+	{"max_namespaces", offsetof(struct rpc_subsystem, num_ns), spdk_json_decode_uint32, true},
 };
 
 static void
@@ -613,7 +615,8 @@ spdk_rpc_construct_nvmf_subsystem(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 		SPDK_NOTICELOG("Ignoring it and continuing.\n");
 	}
 
-	subsystem = spdk_nvmf_subsystem_create(g_spdk_nvmf_tgt, req.nqn, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_NVME, 0);
+	subsystem = spdk_nvmf_subsystem_create(g_spdk_nvmf_tgt, req.nqn, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_NVME,
+					       req.num_ns);
 	if (!subsystem) {
 		goto invalid;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
index a3aac7022..38b54aede 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
@@ -204,6 +204,8 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem {
 	/* Array of pointers to namespaces of size max_nsid indexed by nsid - 1 */
 	struct spdk_nvmf_ns			**ns;
 	uint32_t				max_nsid;
+	/* This is the maximum allowed nsid to a subsystem */
+	uint32_t				max_allowed_nsid;
 	uint32_t				num_allocated_nsid;
 
 	TAILQ_HEAD(, spdk_nvmf_ctrlr)		ctrlrs;
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/subsystem.c b/lib/nvmf/subsystem.c
index 982e08687..8f2ab6662 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/subsystem.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/subsystem.c
@@ -265,6 +265,11 @@ spdk_nvmf_subsystem_create(struct spdk_nvmf_tgt *tgt,
 	subsystem->id = sid;
 	subsystem->subtype = type;
 	subsystem->max_nsid = num_ns;
+	/*
+	 *  Initially max_nsid and max_allowed_nsid will be same. If max_allowed_nsid is zero nsid range can grow dynamically
+	 *  but if it is more than 1 nsid range cannot be extended beyond max_allowed_nsid
+	 */
+	subsystem->max_allowed_nsid = num_ns;
 	subsystem->num_allocated_nsid = 0;
 	subsystem->next_cntlid = 0;
 	snprintf(subsystem->subnqn, sizeof(subsystem->subnqn), "%s", nqn);
@@ -894,6 +899,11 @@ spdk_nvmf_subsystem_add_ns(struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem, struct spdk_bd
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if ((subsystem->max_allowed_nsid > 0) && (opts.nsid > subsystem->max_allowed_nsid)) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Can't extend NSID range above MaxNamespaces\n");
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	if (opts.nsid > subsystem->max_nsid ||
 	    (opts.nsid == 0 && subsystem->num_allocated_nsid == subsystem->max_nsid)) {
 		struct spdk_nvmf_ns **new_ns_array;
diff --git a/scripts/rpc.py b/scripts/rpc.py
index 8d1775640..a325a8f5b 100755
--- a/scripts/rpc.py
+++ b/scripts/rpc.py
@@ -566,6 +566,8 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     Format:  'bdev_name1[:nsid1] bdev_name2[:nsid2] bdev_name3[:nsid3]' etc
     Example: '1:Malloc0 2:Malloc1 3:Malloc2'
     *** The devices must pre-exist ***""")
+    p.add_argument("-m", "--max-namespaces", help="Maximum number of namespaces allowed to added during active connection",
+                   type=int, default=0)
     p.set_defaults(func=construct_nvmf_subsystem)
 
     def delete_nvmf_subsystem(args):
diff --git a/scripts/rpc/nvmf.py b/scripts/rpc/nvmf.py
index 23c548daf..3e17413ab 100755
--- a/scripts/rpc/nvmf.py
+++ b/scripts/rpc/nvmf.py
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ def construct_nvmf_subsystem(client, args):
         'serial_number': args.serial_number,
     }
 
+    if args.max_namespaces:
+        params['max_namespaces'] = args.max_namespaces
+
     if args.listen:
         params['listen_addresses'] = [dict(u.split(":", 1) for u in a.split(" "))
                                       for a in args.listen.split(",")]