diff --git a/lib/nvmf/tcp.c b/lib/nvmf/tcp.c
index 74c1a787c9..d5e79495d9 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/tcp.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/tcp.c
@@ -2442,7 +2442,6 @@ spdk_nvmf_tcp_pdu_set_buf_from_req(struct spdk_nvmf_tcp_qpair *tqpair,
 	if (tcp_req->data_from_pool) {
 		SPDK_DEBUGLOG(SPDK_LOG_NVMF_TCP, "Will send r2t for tcp_req(%p) on tqpair=%p\n", tcp_req, tqpair);
 		tcp_req->next_expected_r2t_offset = 0;
-		spdk_nvmf_tcp_req_set_state(tcp_req, TCP_REQUEST_STATE_TRANSFERRING_HOST_TO_CONTROLLER);
 		spdk_nvmf_tcp_send_r2t_pdu(tqpair, tcp_req);
 	} else {
 		pdu = &tqpair->pdu_in_progress;
@@ -2452,7 +2451,6 @@ spdk_nvmf_tcp_pdu_set_buf_from_req(struct spdk_nvmf_tcp_qpair *tqpair,
 		nvme_tcp_pdu_set_data_buf(pdu, tcp_req->req.iov, tcp_req->req.iovcnt,
 					  0, tcp_req->req.length);
 		spdk_nvmf_tcp_qpair_set_recv_state(tqpair, NVME_TCP_PDU_RECV_STATE_AWAIT_PDU_PAYLOAD);
-		spdk_nvmf_tcp_req_set_state(tcp_req, TCP_REQUEST_STATE_TRANSFERRING_HOST_TO_CONTROLLER);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -2569,6 +2567,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_tcp_req_process(struct spdk_nvmf_tcp_transport *ttransport,
 
 			/* If data is transferring from host to controller, we need to do a transfer from the host. */
 			if (tcp_req->req.xfer == SPDK_NVME_DATA_HOST_TO_CONTROLLER) {
+				spdk_nvmf_tcp_req_set_state(tcp_req, TCP_REQUEST_STATE_TRANSFERRING_HOST_TO_CONTROLLER);
 				spdk_nvmf_tcp_pdu_set_buf_from_req(tqpair, tcp_req);
 				break;
 			}