diff --git a/include/spdk/pci_ids.h b/include/spdk/pci_ids.h
index 6b3e7b5f9..a76220537 100644
--- a/include/spdk/pci_ids.h
+++ b/include/spdk/pci_ids.h
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #define SPDK_PCI_VID_VIRTUALBOX		0x80ee
 #define SPDK_PCI_VID_VIRTIO		0x1af4
 #define SPDK_PCI_VID_CNEXLABS		0x1d1d
+#define SPDK_PCI_VID_VMWARE		0x15ad
 
 /**
  * PCI class code for NVMe devices.
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index b9e73ad11..d699c7456 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -544,6 +544,9 @@ nvme_ctrlr_shutdown(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
 	} while (ms_waited < shutdown_timeout_ms);
 
 	SPDK_ERRLOG("did not shutdown within %u milliseconds\n", shutdown_timeout_ms);
+	if (ctrlr->quirks & NVME_QUIRK_SHST_COMPLETE) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("likely due to shutdown handling in the VMWare emulated NVMe SSD\n");
+	}
 }
 
 static int
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index 785152fb0..6c05e4c79 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -116,6 +116,13 @@ extern pid_t g_spdk_nvme_pid;
  */
 #define NVME_INTEL_QUIRK_NO_LOG_PAGES 0x100
 
+/*
+ * The controller does not set SHST_COMPLETE in a reasonable amount of time.  This
+ * is primarily seen in virtual VMWare NVMe SSDs.  This quirk merely adds an additional
+ * error message that on VMWare NVMe SSDs, the shutdown timeout may be expected.
+ */
+#define NVME_QUIRK_SHST_COMPLETE 0x200
+
 #define NVME_MAX_ASYNC_EVENTS	(8)
 
 #define NVME_MIN_TIMEOUT_PERIOD		(5)
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_quirks.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_quirks.c
index 9a213b12d..df8ea0cfb 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_quirks.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_quirks.c
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ static const struct nvme_quirk nvme_quirks[] = {
 		NVME_QUIRK_IDENTIFY_CNS |
 		NVME_QUIRK_OCSSD
 	},
+	{	{SPDK_PCI_VID_VMWARE, 0x07f0, SPDK_PCI_ANY_ID, SPDK_PCI_ANY_ID},
+		NVME_QUIRK_SHST_COMPLETE
+	},
 	{	{0x0000, 0x0000, 0x0000, 0x0000}, 0}
 };