diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie_common.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie_common.c
index 4b73c4252..8bca0503e 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie_common.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie_common.c
@@ -1097,7 +1097,8 @@ nvme_pcie_ctrlr_delete_io_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct spdk_nvme_
 	/* If attempting to delete a qpair that's still being connected, we have to wait until it's
 	 * finished, so that we don't free it while it's waiting for the create cq/sq callbacks.
 	 */
-	while (nvme_qpair_get_state(qpair) == NVME_QPAIR_CONNECTING) {
+	while (pqpair->pcie_state == NVME_PCIE_QPAIR_WAIT_FOR_CQ ||
+	       pqpair->pcie_state == NVME_PCIE_QPAIR_WAIT_FOR_SQ) {
 		rc = spdk_nvme_qpair_process_completions(ctrlr->adminq, 0);
 		if (rc < 0) {
 			break;