diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index b23a9fc91..ebedac38f 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -455,6 +455,7 @@ struct spdk_nvme_qpair {
 	const struct spdk_nvme_transport	*transport;
 
 	uint8_t					transport_failure_reason: 2;
+	uint8_t					last_transport_failure_reason: 2;
 };
 
 struct spdk_nvme_poll_group {
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c
index 7037d4191..f2bb19d9d 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c
@@ -347,7 +347,6 @@ int
 nvme_transport_ctrlr_connect_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair)
 {
 	const struct spdk_nvme_transport *transport = nvme_get_transport(ctrlr->trid.trstring);
-	uint8_t transport_failure_reason;
 	int rc;
 
 	assert(transport != NULL);
@@ -355,7 +354,7 @@ nvme_transport_ctrlr_connect_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct spdk_nv
 		qpair->transport = transport;
 	}
 
-	transport_failure_reason = qpair->transport_failure_reason;
+	qpair->last_transport_failure_reason = qpair->transport_failure_reason;
 	qpair->transport_failure_reason = SPDK_NVME_QPAIR_FAILURE_NONE;
 
 	nvme_qpair_set_state(qpair, NVME_QPAIR_CONNECTING);
@@ -376,7 +375,7 @@ nvme_transport_ctrlr_connect_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct spdk_nv
 
 err:
 	/* If the qpair was unable to reconnect, restore the original failure reason. */
-	qpair->transport_failure_reason = transport_failure_reason;
+	qpair->transport_failure_reason = qpair->last_transport_failure_reason;
 	nvme_transport_ctrlr_disconnect_qpair(ctrlr, qpair);
 	nvme_qpair_set_state(qpair, NVME_QPAIR_DISCONNECTED);
 	return rc;