diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c b/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c
index e6d58402b829d..c6c2e2361b2fe 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/host/rdma.c
@@ -735,13 +735,13 @@ static int nvme_rdma_alloc_io_queues(struct nvme_rdma_ctrl *ctrl)
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
-	ctrl->ctrl.queue_count = nr_io_queues + 1;
-	if (ctrl->ctrl.queue_count < 2) {
+	if (nr_io_queues == 0) {
 		dev_err(ctrl->ctrl.device,
 			"unable to set any I/O queues\n");
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
+	ctrl->ctrl.queue_count = nr_io_queues + 1;
 	dev_info(ctrl->ctrl.device,
 		"creating %d I/O queues.\n", nr_io_queues);