diff --git a/lib/nvmf/rdma.c b/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
index bcb8ae363..4bfebef03 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
@@ -3480,16 +3480,19 @@ nvmf_rdma_poll_group_add(struct spdk_nvmf_transport_poll_group *group,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&poller->qpairs, rqpair, link);
 	rqpair->poller = poller;
 	rqpair->srq = rqpair->poller->srq;
 
 	rc = nvmf_rdma_qpair_initialize(qpair);
 	if (rc < 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to initialize nvmf_rdma_qpair with qpair=%p\n", qpair);
+		rqpair->poller = NULL;
+		rqpair->srq = NULL;
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&poller->qpairs, rqpair, link);
+
 	rc = nvmf_rdma_event_accept(rqpair->cm_id, rqpair);
 	if (rc) {
 		/* Try to reject, but we probably can't */