diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/core.c b/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
index f29a07ef122f107de61fda89f6f090d1727895ca..7811b4886e63fcf21ec037badd5aa8d21ba70444 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
@@ -2809,6 +2809,7 @@ static int __nvme_check_ids(struct nvme_subsystem *subsys,
 
 	list_for_each_entry(h, &subsys->nsheads, entry) {
 		if (nvme_ns_ids_valid(&new->ids) &&
+		    !list_empty(&h->list) &&
 		    nvme_ns_ids_equal(&new->ids, &h->ids))
 			return -EINVAL;
 	}