diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c b/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c
index 31fdfba556a844958ee19933f33f2b5f3ed378f3..27a8561c0cb97596d25b53620493978040082124 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c
@@ -469,6 +469,12 @@ static void nvme_loop_reset_ctrl_work(struct work_struct *work)
 	nvme_stop_ctrl(&ctrl->ctrl);
 	nvme_loop_shutdown_ctrl(ctrl);
 
+	if (!nvme_change_ctrl_state(&ctrl->ctrl, NVME_CTRL_CONNECTING)) {
+		/* state change failure should never happen */
+		WARN_ON_ONCE(1);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	ret = nvme_loop_configure_admin_queue(ctrl);
 	if (ret)
 		goto out_disable;