diff --git a/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c b/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
index d471b6ab7..e875b391f 100644
--- a/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
+++ b/module/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
@@ -1529,11 +1529,13 @@ nvme_bdev_ctrlr_create(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 
 	TAILQ_INIT(&nvme_bdev_ctrlr->trids);
 	nvme_bdev_ctrlr->num_ns = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_num_ns(ctrlr);
-	nvme_bdev_ctrlr->namespaces = calloc(nvme_bdev_ctrlr->num_ns, sizeof(struct nvme_bdev_ns *));
-	if (!nvme_bdev_ctrlr->namespaces) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate block namespaces pointer\n");
-		rc = -ENOMEM;
-		goto err_alloc_namespaces;
+	if (nvme_bdev_ctrlr->num_ns != 0) {
+		nvme_bdev_ctrlr->namespaces = calloc(nvme_bdev_ctrlr->num_ns, sizeof(struct nvme_bdev_ns *));
+		if (!nvme_bdev_ctrlr->namespaces) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate block namespaces pointer\n");
+			rc = -ENOMEM;
+			goto err_alloc_namespaces;
+		}
 	}
 
 	trid_entry = calloc(1, sizeof(*trid_entry));
diff --git a/module/bdev/nvme/vbdev_opal.c b/module/bdev/nvme/vbdev_opal.c
index 1adefd89c..ce71daf37 100644
--- a/module/bdev/nvme/vbdev_opal.c
+++ b/module/bdev/nvme/vbdev_opal.c
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@ vbdev_opal_create(const char *nvme_ctrlr_name, uint32_t nsid, uint8_t locking_ra
 	opal_bdev->nvme_ctrlr = nvme_ctrlr;
 	opal_bdev->opal_dev = nvme_ctrlr->opal_dev;
 
+	assert(nsid <= nvme_ctrlr->num_ns);
 	nvme_bdev = nvme_bdev_ns_to_bdev(nvme_ctrlr->namespaces[nsid - 1]);
 	assert(nvme_bdev != NULL);
 	base_bdev_name = nvme_bdev->disk.name;