diff --git a/include/spdk/nvme.h b/include/spdk/nvme.h
index 2b956c59c..936efc17b 100644
--- a/include/spdk/nvme.h
+++ b/include/spdk/nvme.h
@@ -100,6 +100,13 @@ struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts {
 	 * The queue depth of each NVMe I/O queue.
 	 */
 	uint32_t queue_size;
+
+	/**
+	 * The host NQN to use when connecting to NVMe over Fabrics controllers.
+	 *
+	 * Unused for local PCIe-attached NVMe devices.
+	 */
+	char hostnqn[SPDK_NVMF_NQN_MAX_LEN + 1];
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index 2a05d3f8e..e7e96f498 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts_set_defaults(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts *opts)
 	opts->arb_mechanism = SPDK_NVME_CC_AMS_RR;
 	opts->keep_alive_timeout_ms = 10 * 1000;
 	opts->queue_size = DEFAULT_MAX_QUEUE_SIZE;
+	strncpy(opts->hostnqn, DEFAULT_HOSTNQN, sizeof(opts->hostnqn));
 }
 
 struct spdk_nvme_qpair *
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index 59ce5ec3c..b1dde21d4 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@
 #define DEFAULT_MAX_IO_QUEUES		(1024)
 #define DEFAULT_MAX_QUEUE_SIZE		(256)
 
+#define DEFAULT_HOSTNQN			"nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:host"
+
 enum nvme_payload_type {
 	NVME_PAYLOAD_TYPE_INVALID = 0,
 
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_rdma.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_rdma.c
index cd7b1fc63..f1749d002 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_rdma.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_rdma.c
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@
 #define NVME_RDMA_TIME_OUT_IN_MS 2000
 #define NVME_RDMA_RW_BUFFER_SIZE 131072
 #define NVME_HOST_ID_DEFAULT "12345679890"
-#define NVME_HOST_NQN  "nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:host"
 
 #define NVME_HOST_MAX_ENTRIES_PER_QUEUE (127)
 
@@ -765,7 +764,7 @@ nvme_rdma_qpair_fabric_connect(struct nvme_rdma_qpair *rqpair)
 
 	strncpy((char *)&nvmf_data->hostid, (char *)NVME_HOST_ID_DEFAULT,
 		strlen((char *)NVME_HOST_ID_DEFAULT));
-	strncpy((char *)nvmf_data->hostnqn, NVME_HOST_NQN, sizeof(nvmf_data->hostnqn));
+	strncpy((char *)nvmf_data->hostnqn, ctrlr->opts.hostnqn, sizeof(nvmf_data->hostnqn));
 	strncpy((char *)nvmf_data->subnqn, ctrlr->probe_info.nqn, sizeof(nvmf_data->subnqn));
 
 	if (nvme_qpair_is_admin_queue(&rqpair->qpair)) {