diff --git a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
index 4d18be7e8..e7a8ec4ad 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ static const char *g_core_mask;
 
 struct trid_entry {
 	struct spdk_nvme_transport_id	trid;
+	uint16_t			nsid;
 	TAILQ_ENTRY(trid_entry)		tailq;
 };
 
@@ -320,7 +321,7 @@ set_latency_tracking_feature(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, bool enable)
 }
 
 static void
-register_ctrlr(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
+register_ctrlr(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct trid_entry *trid_entry)
 {
 	struct spdk_nvme_ns *ns;
 	struct ctrlr_entry *entry = malloc(sizeof(struct ctrlr_entry));
@@ -350,12 +351,22 @@ register_ctrlr(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
 		set_latency_tracking_feature(ctrlr, true);
 	}
 
-	for (nsid = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_first_active_ns(ctrlr);
-	     nsid != 0; nsid = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_next_active_ns(ctrlr, nsid)) {
-		ns = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_ns(ctrlr, nsid);
-		if (ns == NULL) {
-			continue;
+	if (trid_entry->nsid == 0) {
+		for (nsid = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_first_active_ns(ctrlr);
+		     nsid != 0; nsid = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_next_active_ns(ctrlr, nsid)) {
+			ns = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_ns(ctrlr, nsid);
+			if (ns == NULL) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			register_ns(ctrlr, ns);
 		}
+	} else {
+		ns = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_ns(ctrlr, trid_entry->nsid);
+		if (!ns) {
+			perror("Namespace does not exist.");
+			exit(1);
+		}
+
 		register_ns(ctrlr, ns);
 	}
 
@@ -1174,6 +1185,7 @@ add_trid(const char *trid_str)
 {
 	struct trid_entry *trid_entry;
 	struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid;
+	char *ns;
 
 	trid_entry = calloc(1, sizeof(*trid_entry));
 	if (trid_entry == NULL) {
@@ -1191,6 +1203,34 @@ add_trid(const char *trid_str)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
+	ns = strcasestr(trid_str, "ns:");
+	if (ns) {
+		char nsid_str[6]; /* 5 digits maximum in an nsid */
+		int len;
+		int nsid;
+
+		ns += 3;
+
+		len = strcspn(ns, " \t\n");
+		if (len > 5) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "NVMe namespace IDs must be 5 digits or less\n");
+			free(trid_entry);
+			return 1;
+		}
+
+		memcpy(nsid_str, ns, len);
+		nsid_str[len] = '\0';
+
+		nsid = atoi(nsid_str);
+		if (nsid <= 0 || nsid > 65535) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "NVMe namespace IDs must be less than 65536 and greater than 0\n");
+			free(trid_entry);
+			return 1;
+		}
+
+		trid_entry->nsid = (uint16_t)nsid;
+	}
+
 	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&g_trid_list, trid_entry, tailq);
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -1462,6 +1502,7 @@ static void
 attach_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 	  struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, const struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts *opts)
 {
+	struct trid_entry	*trid_entry = cb_ctx;
 	struct spdk_pci_addr	pci_addr;
 	struct spdk_pci_device	*pci_dev;
 	struct spdk_pci_id	pci_id;
@@ -1488,7 +1529,7 @@ attach_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 		       pci_id.vendor_id, pci_id.device_id);
 	}
 
-	register_ctrlr(ctrlr);
+	register_ctrlr(ctrlr, trid_entry);
 }
 
 static int
@@ -1499,7 +1540,7 @@ register_controllers(void)
 	printf("Initializing NVMe Controllers\n");
 
 	TAILQ_FOREACH(trid_entry, &g_trid_list, tailq) {
-		if (spdk_nvme_probe(&trid_entry->trid, NULL, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
+		if (spdk_nvme_probe(&trid_entry->trid, trid_entry, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "spdk_nvme_probe() failed for transport address '%s'\n",
 				trid_entry->trid.traddr);
 			return -1;