diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
index f431909a1..0fc870155 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
@@ -985,13 +985,18 @@ nvme_qpair_submit_request(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, struct nvme_request *re
 
 	if (spdk_unlikely(!STAILQ_EMPTY(&qpair->queued_req) && req->num_children == 0)) {
 		/*
-		 * requests that have no children should be sent to the transport after all
+		 * Requests that have no children should be sent to the transport after all
 		 * currently queued requests. Requests with chilren will be split and go back
-		 * through this path.
+		 * through this path.  We need to make an exception for the fabrics commands
+		 * while the qpair is connecting to be able to send the connect command
+		 * asynchronously.
 		 */
-		STAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&qpair->queued_req, req, stailq);
-		req->queued = true;
-		return 0;
+		if (req->cmd.opc != SPDK_NVME_OPC_FABRIC ||
+		    nvme_qpair_get_state(qpair) != NVME_QPAIR_CONNECTING) {
+			STAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&qpair->queued_req, req, stailq);
+			req->queued = true;
+			return 0;
+		}
 	}
 
 	rc = _nvme_qpair_submit_request(qpair, req);