diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme.c b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
index 7aa75e7a3..32f60e2a3 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
@@ -314,6 +314,14 @@ nvme_wait_for_completion_robust_lock_timeout(
 			rc = -1;
 			break;
 		}
+		if (qpair->ctrlr->trid.trtype == SPDK_NVME_TRANSPORT_PCIE) {
+			union spdk_nvme_csts_register csts = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_regs_csts(qpair->ctrlr);
+			if (csts.raw == SPDK_NVME_INVALID_REGISTER_VALUE) {
+				status->cpl.status.sct = SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC;
+				status->cpl.status.sc = SPDK_NVME_SC_INTERNAL_DEVICE_ERROR;
+				break;
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (status->done == false) {
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index 7d57a093e..a9dc4bf7f 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -3445,7 +3445,7 @@ union spdk_nvme_csts_register spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_regs_csts(struct spdk_nvme_ctr
 	union spdk_nvme_csts_register csts;
 
 	if (nvme_ctrlr_get_csts(ctrlr, &csts)) {
-		csts.raw = 0xFFFFFFFFu;
+		csts.raw = SPDK_NVME_INVALID_REGISTER_VALUE;
 	}
 	return csts;
 }
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index 69847304c..30419781e 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -191,6 +191,9 @@ extern pid_t g_spdk_nvme_pid;
 #define NVME_FABRIC_CONNECT_COMMAND_TIMEOUT 500000
 #endif
 
+/* This value indicates that a read from a PCIe register is invalid. This can happen when a device is no longer present */
+#define SPDK_NVME_INVALID_REGISTER_VALUE 0xFFFFFFFFu
+
 enum nvme_payload_type {
 	NVME_PAYLOAD_TYPE_INVALID = 0,
 
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme.c/nvme_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme.c/nvme_ut.c
index c0549f6e7..bef45c63f 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme.c/nvme_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme.c/nvme_ut.c
@@ -91,6 +91,13 @@ nvme_ctrlr_destruct_poll_async(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+union spdk_nvme_csts_register
+	spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_regs_csts(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
+{
+	union spdk_nvme_csts_register csts = {};
+	return csts;
+}
+
 void
 spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_default_ctrlr_opts(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts *opts, size_t opts_size)
 {
@@ -1270,9 +1277,13 @@ static void
 test_nvme_wait_for_completion(void)
 {
 	struct spdk_nvme_qpair qpair;
+	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr ctrlr;
 	int rc = 0;
 
+	memset(&ctrlr, 0, sizeof(ctrlr));
+	ctrlr.trid.trtype = SPDK_NVME_TRANSPORT_PCIE;
 	memset(&qpair, 0, sizeof(qpair));
+	qpair.ctrlr = &ctrlr;
 
 	/* completion timeout */
 	memset(&g_status, 0, sizeof(g_status));