diff --git a/lib/idxd/idxd.c b/lib/idxd/idxd.c
index 0b5ed96fca..34c950425b 100644
--- a/lib/idxd/idxd.c
+++ b/lib/idxd/idxd.c
@@ -1149,7 +1149,7 @@ spdk_idxd_process_events(struct spdk_idxd_io_channel *chan)
 			if (op->desc->opcode == IDXD_OPCODE_BATCH) {
 				_free_batch(op->batch, chan);
 			} else if (op->batch == NULL) {
-				TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&chan->ops_pool, op, link);
+				TAILQ_INSERT_HEAD(&chan->ops_pool, op, link);
 			}
 
 			if (cb_fn) {