diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c b/drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c
index 9eda91162fe4..8e0d766d2722 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c
@@ -160,6 +160,11 @@ static void nvmet_tcp_finish_cmd(struct nvmet_tcp_cmd *cmd);
 static inline u16 nvmet_tcp_cmd_tag(struct nvmet_tcp_queue *queue,
 		struct nvmet_tcp_cmd *cmd)
 {
+	if (unlikely(!queue->nr_cmds)) {
+		/* We didn't allocate cmds yet, send 0xffff */
+		return USHRT_MAX;
+	}
+
 	return cmd - queue->cmds;
 }
 
@@ -866,7 +871,10 @@ static int nvmet_tcp_handle_h2c_data_pdu(struct nvmet_tcp_queue *queue)
 	struct nvme_tcp_data_pdu *data = &queue->pdu.data;
 	struct nvmet_tcp_cmd *cmd;
 
-	cmd = &queue->cmds[data->ttag];
+	if (likely(queue->nr_cmds))
+		cmd = &queue->cmds[data->ttag];
+	else
+		cmd = &queue->connect;
 
 	if (le32_to_cpu(data->data_offset) != cmd->rbytes_done) {
 		pr_err("ttag %u unexpected data offset %u (expected %u)\n",