diff --git a/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h b/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h
index 1cf364e61..2ff83f998 100644
--- a/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h
+++ b/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_listener {
  * A subset of struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_data that are emulated by a fabrics device.
  */
 struct spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_data {
+	uint8_t aerl;
 	uint16_t kas;
 	/** pci vendor id */
 	uint16_t vid;
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c b/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c
index 966d503e9..12e3e0c40 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ static void
 nvmf_ctrlr_cdata_init(struct spdk_nvmf_transport *transport, struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem,
 		      struct spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_data *cdata)
 {
+	cdata->aerl = NVMF_MAX_ASYNC_EVENTS - 1;
 	cdata->kas = KAS_DEFAULT_VALUE;
 	cdata->vid = SPDK_PCI_VID_INTEL;
 	cdata->ssvid = SPDK_PCI_VID_INTEL;
@@ -2498,7 +2499,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ctrlr(struct spdk_nvmf_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct spdk_nvme_c
 	cdata->mdts = spdk_u32log2(transport->opts.max_io_size / 4096);
 	cdata->cntlid = ctrlr->cntlid;
 	cdata->ver = ctrlr->vcprop.vs;
-	cdata->aerl = NVMF_MAX_ASYNC_EVENTS - 1;
+	cdata->aerl = ctrlr->cdata.aerl;
 	cdata->lpa.edlp = 1;
 	cdata->elpe = 127;
 	cdata->maxcmd = transport->opts.max_queue_depth;