diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index 1960b0a599..ff277714ba 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -418,8 +418,12 @@ spdk_nvme_ctrlr_alloc_io_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 	rc = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_connect_io_qpair(ctrlr, qpair);
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("nvme_transport_ctrlr_connect_io_qpair() failed\n");
+		nvme_robust_mutex_lock(&ctrlr->ctrlr_lock);
+		nvme_ctrlr_proc_remove_io_qpair(qpair);
 		TAILQ_REMOVE(&ctrlr->active_io_qpairs, qpair, tailq);
+		spdk_bit_array_set(ctrlr->free_io_qids, qpair->id);
 		nvme_transport_ctrlr_delete_io_qpair(ctrlr, qpair);
+		nvme_robust_mutex_unlock(&ctrlr->ctrlr_lock);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
index 3e2321d806..16a4c1b03b 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
@@ -2162,6 +2162,27 @@ test_nvme_ctrlr_init_set_keep_alive_timeout(void)
 	nvme_ctrlr_destruct(&ctrlr);
 }
 
+static void
+test_alloc_io_qpair_fail(void)
+{
+	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr ctrlr = {};
+	struct spdk_nvme_qpair *q0;
+
+	setup_qpairs(&ctrlr, 1);
+
+	/* Modify the connect_qpair return code to inject a failure */
+	g_connect_qpair_return_code = 1;
+
+	/* Attempt to allocate a qpair, this should fail */
+	q0 = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_alloc_io_qpair(&ctrlr, NULL, 0);
+	SPDK_CU_ASSERT_FATAL(q0 == NULL);
+
+	/* Verify that the qpair is removed from the lists */
+	SPDK_CU_ASSERT_FATAL(TAILQ_EMPTY(&ctrlr.active_io_qpairs));
+
+	cleanup_qpairs(&ctrlr);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	CU_pSuite	suite = NULL;
@@ -2200,6 +2221,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	CU_ADD_TEST(suite, test_nvme_ctrlr_init_set_nvmf_ioccsz);
 	CU_ADD_TEST(suite, test_nvme_ctrlr_init_set_num_queues);
 	CU_ADD_TEST(suite, test_nvme_ctrlr_init_set_keep_alive_timeout);
+	CU_ADD_TEST(suite, test_alloc_io_qpair_fail);
 
 	CU_basic_set_mode(CU_BRM_VERBOSE);
 	CU_basic_run_tests();