diff --git a/hw/nvme/nvme.h b/hw/nvme/nvme.h
index 6773819325..e41771604f 100644
--- a/hw/nvme/nvme.h
+++ b/hw/nvme/nvme.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ typedef struct NvmeSubsystem {
     DeviceState parent_obj;
     NvmeBus     bus;
     uint8_t     subnqn[256];
+    char        *serial;
 
     NvmeCtrl      *ctrls[NVME_MAX_CONTROLLERS];
     NvmeNamespace *namespaces[NVME_MAX_NAMESPACES + 1];
diff --git a/hw/nvme/subsys.c b/hw/nvme/subsys.c
index fb58d63950..691a90d209 100644
--- a/hw/nvme/subsys.c
+++ b/hw/nvme/subsys.c
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ int nvme_subsys_register_ctrl(NvmeCtrl *n, Error **errp)
         return -1;
     }
 
+    if (!subsys->serial) {
+        subsys->serial = g_strdup(n->params.serial);
+    } else if (strcmp(subsys->serial, n->params.serial)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "invalid controller serial");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     subsys->ctrls[cntlid] = n;
 
     for (nsid = 1; nsid < ARRAY_SIZE(subsys->namespaces); nsid++) {