diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index cdecf3eea..3cbca3162 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -1337,6 +1337,7 @@ nvme_ctrlr_init_cap(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, const union spdk_nvme_cap_reg
 
 	ctrlr->min_page_size = 1u << (12 + ctrlr->cap.bits.mpsmin);
 
+	ctrlr->opts.io_queue_size = spdk_max(ctrlr->opts.io_queue_size, SPDK_NVME_IO_QUEUE_MIN_ENTRIES);
 	ctrlr->opts.io_queue_size = spdk_min(ctrlr->opts.io_queue_size, ctrlr->cap.bits.mqes + 1u);
 	ctrlr->opts.io_queue_size = spdk_min(ctrlr->opts.io_queue_size, max_io_queue_size);
 }