diff --git a/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index 2c8a5649ad1..00277f08263 100644
--- a/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -810,7 +810,7 @@ nvme_ctrlr_intx_handler(void *arg)
 
 	nvme_qpair_process_completions(&ctrlr->adminq);
 
-	if (ctrlr->ioq[0].cpl)
+	if (ctrlr->ioq && ctrlr->ioq[0].cpl)
 		nvme_qpair_process_completions(&ctrlr->ioq[0]);
 
 	nvme_mmio_write_4(ctrlr, intmc, 1);