diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
index 053a8a47d..ac4953292 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_qpair.c
@@ -665,6 +665,7 @@ _nvme_qpair_build_hw_sgl_request(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, struct nvme_requ
 	/*
 	 * Build scattered payloads.
 	 */
+	nvme_assert(req->payload_size != 0, ("cannot build SGL for zero-length transfer\n"));
 	nvme_assert(req->payload.type == NVME_PAYLOAD_TYPE_SGL, ("sgl payload type required\n"));
 	nvme_assert(req->payload.u.sgl.reset_sgl_fn != NULL, ("sgl reset callback required\n"));
 	nvme_assert(req->payload.u.sgl.next_sge_fn != NULL, ("sgl callback required\n"));
@@ -704,14 +705,11 @@ _nvme_qpair_build_hw_sgl_request(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, struct nvme_requ
 		req->cmd.dptr.sgl1.type = SPDK_NVME_SGL_TYPE_DATA_BLOCK;
 		req->cmd.dptr.sgl1.address = phys_addr;
 		req->cmd.dptr.sgl1.length = data_transfered;
-	} else if (nseg > 1) {
+	} else {
 		/* For now we can only support 1 SGL segment in NVMe controller */
 		req->cmd.dptr.sgl1.type = SPDK_NVME_SGL_TYPE_LAST_SEGMENT;
 		req->cmd.dptr.sgl1.address = tr->prp_sgl_bus_addr;
 		req->cmd.dptr.sgl1.length = nseg * sizeof(struct spdk_nvme_sgl_descriptor);
-	} else {
-		_nvme_fail_request_bad_vtophys(qpair, tr);
-		return -1;
 	}
 
 	return 0;