diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index 7d1b1b3217..8dd2b83efc 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -3232,8 +3232,11 @@ nvme_ctrlr_process_init(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
 
 	case NVME_CTRLR_STATE_RESET_ADMIN_QUEUE:
 		nvme_transport_qpair_reset(ctrlr->adminq);
-		nvme_ctrlr_set_state(ctrlr, NVME_CTRLR_STATE_IDENTIFY,
-				     ctrlr->opts.admin_timeout_ms);
+		if (spdk_nvme_ctrlr_is_discovery(ctrlr)) {
+			nvme_ctrlr_set_state(ctrlr, NVME_CTRLR_STATE_READY, NVME_TIMEOUT_INFINITE);
+		} else {
+			nvme_ctrlr_set_state(ctrlr, NVME_CTRLR_STATE_IDENTIFY, ctrlr->opts.admin_timeout_ms);
+		}
 		break;
 
 	case NVME_CTRLR_STATE_IDENTIFY:
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
index 7bf7853592..fd4a5cc57c 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
@@ -265,7 +265,6 @@ nvme_fabric_ctrlr_scan(struct spdk_nvme_probe_ctx *probe_ctx,
 {
 	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts discovery_opts;
 	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *discovery_ctrlr;
-	union spdk_nvme_cc_register cc;
 	int rc;
 	struct nvme_completion_poll_status *status;
 
@@ -283,19 +282,12 @@ nvme_fabric_ctrlr_scan(struct spdk_nvme_probe_ctx *probe_ctx,
 	if (discovery_ctrlr == NULL) {
 		return -1;
 	}
-	nvme_qpair_set_state(discovery_ctrlr->adminq, NVME_QPAIR_ENABLED);
 
-	/* TODO: this should be using the normal NVMe controller initialization process +1 */
-	cc.raw = 0;
-	cc.bits.en = 1;
-	cc.bits.iosqes = 6; /* SQ entry size == 64 == 2^6 */
-	cc.bits.iocqes = 4; /* CQ entry size == 16 == 2^4 */
-	rc = nvme_transport_ctrlr_set_reg_4(discovery_ctrlr, offsetof(struct spdk_nvme_registers, cc.raw),
-					    cc.raw);
-	if (rc < 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to set cc\n");
-		nvme_ctrlr_destruct(discovery_ctrlr);
-		return -1;
+	while (discovery_ctrlr->state != NVME_CTRLR_STATE_READY) {
+		if (nvme_ctrlr_process_init(discovery_ctrlr) != 0) {
+			nvme_ctrlr_destruct(discovery_ctrlr);
+			return -1;
+		}
 	}
 
 	status = calloc(1, sizeof(*status));
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c/nvme_fabric_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c/nvme_fabric_ut.c
index fecb4b272d..10016acd33 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c/nvme_fabric_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c/nvme_fabric_ut.c
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ DEFINE_STUB(nvme_wait_for_completion_timeout, int,
 DEFINE_STUB(spdk_nvme_transport_id_adrfam_str, const char *,
 	    (enum spdk_nvmf_adrfam adrfam), NULL);
 
+DEFINE_STUB(nvme_ctrlr_process_init, int, (struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr), 0);
+
 int
 spdk_nvme_transport_id_populate_trstring(struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid, const char *trstring)
 {