diff --git a/hw/nvme/ctrl.c b/hw/nvme/ctrl.c
index 20f1a73995..658584d417 100644
--- a/hw/nvme/ctrl.c
+++ b/hw/nvme/ctrl.c
@@ -6328,8 +6328,6 @@ static int nvme_start_ctrl(NvmeCtrl *n)
 
     nvme_set_timestamp(n, 0ULL);
 
-    QTAILQ_INIT(&n->aer_queue);
-
     nvme_select_iocs(n);
 
     return 0;
@@ -6989,6 +6987,7 @@ static void nvme_init_state(NvmeCtrl *n)
     n->features.temp_thresh_hi = NVME_TEMPERATURE_WARNING;
     n->starttime_ms = qemu_clock_get_ms(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
     n->aer_reqs = g_new0(NvmeRequest *, n->params.aerl + 1);
+    QTAILQ_INIT(&n->aer_queue);
 
     list->numcntl = cpu_to_le16(max_vfs);
     for (i = 0; i < max_vfs; i++) {