diff --git a/sbin/nvmecontrol/devlist.c b/sbin/nvmecontrol/devlist.c
--- a/sbin/nvmecontrol/devlist.c
+++ b/sbin/nvmecontrol/devlist.c
@@ -116,9 +116,10 @@
 scan_controller(int ctrlr)
 {
 	struct nvme_controller_data	cdata;
+	struct nvme_ns_list		nslist;
 	char				name[64];
 	uint8_t				mn[64];
-	uint32_t			i;
+	uint32_t			nsid;
 	int				fd, ret;
 
 	snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s%d", NVME_CTRLR_PREFIX, ctrlr);
@@ -139,8 +140,20 @@
 	nvme_strvis(mn, cdata.mn, sizeof(mn), NVME_MODEL_NUMBER_LENGTH);
 	printf("%6s: %s\n", name, mn);
 
-	for (i = 0; i < cdata.nn; i++) {
-		scan_namespace(fd, ctrlr, i + 1);
+	nsid = 0;
+	for (;;) {
+		if (read_active_namespaces(fd, nsid, &nslist) != 0)
+			break;
+		for (u_int i = 0; i < nitems(nslist.ns); i++) {
+			nsid = nslist.ns[i];
+			if (nsid == 0) {
+				break;
+			}
+
+			scan_namespace(fd, ctrlr, nsid);
+		}
+		if (nsid == 0 || nsid >= NVME_GLOBAL_NAMESPACE_TAG - 1)
+			break;
 	}
 
 	close(fd);
diff --git a/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.h b/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.h
--- a/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.h
+++ b/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.h
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@
 void get_nsid(int fd, char **ctrlr_str, uint32_t *nsid);
 int read_controller_data(int fd, struct nvme_controller_data *cdata);
 int read_namespace_data(int fd, uint32_t nsid, struct nvme_namespace_data *nsdata);
+int read_active_namespaces(int fd, uint32_t nsid, struct nvme_ns_list *nslist);
 void print_hex(void *data, uint32_t length);
 void print_namespace(struct nvme_namespace_data *nsdata);
 void read_logpage(int fd, uint8_t log_page, uint32_t nsid, uint8_t lsp,
diff --git a/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.c b/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.c
--- a/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.c
+++ b/sbin/nvmecontrol/nvmecontrol.c
@@ -142,6 +142,30 @@
 	return (0);
 }
 
+int
+read_active_namespaces(int fd, uint32_t nsid, struct nvme_ns_list *nslist)
+{
+	struct nvme_pt_command	pt;
+
+	memset(&pt, 0, sizeof(pt));
+	pt.cmd.opc = NVME_OPC_IDENTIFY;
+	pt.cmd.nsid = htole32(nsid);
+	pt.cmd.cdw10 = htole32(2);
+	pt.buf = nslist;
+	pt.len = sizeof(*nslist);
+	pt.is_read = 1;
+
+	if (ioctl(fd, NVME_PASSTHROUGH_CMD, &pt) < 0)
+		return (errno);
+
+	/* Convert data to host endian */
+	nvme_ns_list_swapbytes(nslist);
+
+	if (nvme_completion_is_error(&pt.cpl))
+		return (EIO);
+	return (0);
+}
+
 int
 open_dev(const char *str, int *fd, int write, int exit_on_error)
 {