diff --git a/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c b/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c
index 470df0b24..b361dee0b 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c
@@ -1200,10 +1200,23 @@ spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ns(struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem,
 {
 	struct spdk_nvmf_ns *ns;
 
+	if (cmd->nsid == 0 || cmd->nsid > subsystem->max_nsid) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Identify Namespace for invalid NSID %u\n", cmd->nsid);
+		rsp->status.sct = SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC;
+		rsp->status.sc = SPDK_NVME_SC_INVALID_NAMESPACE_OR_FORMAT;
+		return SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE;
+	}
+
 	ns = _spdk_nvmf_subsystem_get_ns(subsystem, cmd->nsid);
 	if (ns == NULL || ns->bdev == NULL) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Identify Namespace for invalid NSID %u\n", cmd->nsid);
-		rsp->status.sc = SPDK_NVME_SC_INVALID_NAMESPACE_OR_FORMAT;
+		/*
+		 * Inactive namespaces should return a zero filled data structure.
+		 * The data buffer is already zeroed by spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_process_admin_cmd(),
+		 * so we can just return early here.
+		 */
+		SPDK_DEBUGLOG(SPDK_LOG_NVMF, "Identify Namespace for inactive NSID %u\n", cmd->nsid);
+		rsp->status.sct = SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC;
+		rsp->status.sc = SPDK_NVME_SC_SUCCESS;
 		return SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE;
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c/ctrlr_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c/ctrlr_ut.c
index bb54dda85..559372edb 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c/ctrlr_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/ctrlr.c/ctrlr_ut.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ SPDK_LOG_REGISTER_COMPONENT("nvmf", SPDK_LOG_NVMF)
 
 struct spdk_bdev {
 	int ut_mock;
+	uint64_t blockcnt;
 };
 
 DEFINE_STUB(spdk_nvmf_tgt_find_subsystem,
@@ -118,11 +119,6 @@ DEFINE_STUB(spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_write_zeroes_supported,
 	    (struct spdk_nvmf_ctrlr *ctrlr),
 	    false);
 
-DEFINE_STUB(spdk_nvmf_bdev_ctrlr_identify_ns,
-	    int,
-	    (struct spdk_nvmf_ns *ns, struct spdk_nvme_ns_data *nsdata),
-	    -1);
-
 DEFINE_STUB_V(spdk_nvmf_get_discovery_log_page,
 	      (struct spdk_nvmf_tgt *tgt, void *buffer, uint64_t offset, uint32_t length));
 
@@ -136,6 +132,23 @@ DEFINE_STUB(spdk_nvmf_request_abort,
 	    (struct spdk_nvmf_request *req),
 	    -1);
 
+int
+spdk_nvmf_bdev_ctrlr_identify_ns(struct spdk_nvmf_ns *ns, struct spdk_nvme_ns_data *nsdata)
+{
+	uint64_t num_blocks;
+
+	SPDK_CU_ASSERT_FATAL(ns->bdev != NULL);
+	num_blocks = ns->bdev->blockcnt;
+	nsdata->nsze = num_blocks;
+	nsdata->ncap = num_blocks;
+	nsdata->nuse = num_blocks;
+	nsdata->nlbaf = 0;
+	nsdata->flbas.format = 0;
+	nsdata->lbaf[0].lbads = spdk_u32log2(512);
+
+	return SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE;
+}
+
 static void
 test_get_log_page(void)
 {
@@ -665,6 +678,81 @@ test_get_ns_id_desc_list(void)
 	CU_ASSERT(buf[53] == 0);
 }
 
+static void
+test_identify_ns(void)
+{
+	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem subsystem = {};
+	struct spdk_nvme_cmd cmd = {};
+	struct spdk_nvme_cpl rsp = {};
+	struct spdk_nvme_ns_data nsdata = {};
+	struct spdk_bdev bdev[3] = {{.blockcnt = 1234}, {.blockcnt = 0}, {.blockcnt = 5678}};
+	struct spdk_nvmf_ns ns[3] = {{.bdev = &bdev[0]}, {.bdev = NULL}, {.bdev = &bdev[2]}};
+	struct spdk_nvmf_ns *ns_arr[3] = {&ns[0], NULL, &ns[2]};
+
+	subsystem.ns = ns_arr;
+	subsystem.max_nsid = SPDK_COUNTOF(ns_arr);
+
+	/* Invalid NSID 0 */
+	cmd.nsid = 0;
+	memset(&nsdata, 0, sizeof(nsdata));
+	memset(&rsp, 0, sizeof(rsp));
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ns(&subsystem, &cmd, &rsp,
+					      &nsdata) == SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sct == SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sc == SPDK_NVME_SC_INVALID_NAMESPACE_OR_FORMAT);
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_mem_all_zero(&nsdata, sizeof(nsdata)));
+
+	/* Valid NSID 1 */
+	cmd.nsid = 1;
+	memset(&nsdata, 0, sizeof(nsdata));
+	memset(&rsp, 0, sizeof(rsp));
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ns(&subsystem, &cmd, &rsp,
+					      &nsdata) == SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sct == SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sc == SPDK_NVME_SC_SUCCESS);
+	CU_ASSERT(nsdata.nsze == 1234);
+
+	/* Valid but inactive NSID 2 */
+	cmd.nsid = 2;
+	memset(&nsdata, 0, sizeof(nsdata));
+	memset(&rsp, 0, sizeof(rsp));
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ns(&subsystem, &cmd, &rsp,
+					      &nsdata) == SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sct == SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sc == SPDK_NVME_SC_SUCCESS);
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_mem_all_zero(&nsdata, sizeof(nsdata)));
+
+	/* Valid NSID 3 */
+	cmd.nsid = 3;
+	memset(&nsdata, 0, sizeof(nsdata));
+	memset(&rsp, 0, sizeof(rsp));
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ns(&subsystem, &cmd, &rsp,
+					      &nsdata) == SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sct == SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sc == SPDK_NVME_SC_SUCCESS);
+	CU_ASSERT(nsdata.nsze == 5678);
+
+	/* Invalid NSID 4 */
+	cmd.nsid = 4;
+	memset(&nsdata, 0, sizeof(nsdata));
+	memset(&rsp, 0, sizeof(rsp));
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ns(&subsystem, &cmd, &rsp,
+					      &nsdata) == SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sct == SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sc == SPDK_NVME_SC_INVALID_NAMESPACE_OR_FORMAT);
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_mem_all_zero(&nsdata, sizeof(nsdata)));
+
+	/* Invalid NSID 0xFFFFFFFF (NS management not supported) */
+	cmd.nsid = 0xFFFFFFFF;
+	memset(&nsdata, 0, sizeof(nsdata));
+	memset(&rsp, 0, sizeof(rsp));
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_nvmf_ctrlr_identify_ns(&subsystem, &cmd, &rsp,
+					      &nsdata) == SPDK_NVMF_REQUEST_EXEC_STATUS_COMPLETE);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sct == SPDK_NVME_SCT_GENERIC);
+	CU_ASSERT(rsp.status.sc == SPDK_NVME_SC_INVALID_NAMESPACE_OR_FORMAT);
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_mem_all_zero(&nsdata, sizeof(nsdata)));
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	CU_pSuite	suite = NULL;
@@ -684,7 +772,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		CU_add_test(suite, "get_log_page", test_get_log_page) == NULL ||
 		CU_add_test(suite, "process_fabrics_cmd", test_process_fabrics_cmd) == NULL ||
 		CU_add_test(suite, "connect", test_connect) == NULL ||
-		CU_add_test(suite, "get_ns_id_desc_list", test_get_ns_id_desc_list) == NULL
+		CU_add_test(suite, "get_ns_id_desc_list", test_get_ns_id_desc_list) == NULL ||
+		CU_add_test(suite, "identify_ns", test_identify_ns) == NULL
 	) {
 		CU_cleanup_registry();
 		return CU_get_error();