diff --git a/lib/bdev/bdev.c b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
index f68aaaf0c..ec401b2d2 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/bdev.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
@@ -1205,13 +1205,15 @@ _spdk_bdev_io_split_with_payload(void *_bdev_io)
 	if (rc == 0) {
 		bdev_io->u.bdev.split_current_offset_blocks += to_next_boundary;
 		bdev_io->u.bdev.split_remaining_num_blocks -= to_next_boundary;
-	} else {
-		assert(rc == -ENOMEM);
+	} else if (rc == -ENOMEM) {
 		bdev_io->internal.waitq_entry.bdev = bdev_io->bdev;
 		bdev_io->internal.waitq_entry.cb_fn = _spdk_bdev_io_split_with_payload;
 		bdev_io->internal.waitq_entry.cb_arg = bdev_io;
 		spdk_bdev_queue_io_wait(bdev_io->bdev, spdk_io_channel_from_ctx(bdev_io->internal.ch),
 					&bdev_io->internal.waitq_entry);
+	} else {
+		bdev_io->internal.status = SPDK_BDEV_IO_STATUS_FAILED;
+		bdev_io->internal.cb(bdev_io, false, bdev_io->internal.caller_ctx);
 	}
 }