diff --git a/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
--- a/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/sys/dev/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -55,6 +55,24 @@
 	bus_barrier(ctrlr->resource, 0, rman_get_size(ctrlr->resource), flags);
 }
 
+static void
+nvme_ctrlr_devctl_va(struct nvme_controller *ctrlr, const char *type,
+    const char *msg, va_list ap)
+{
+	struct sbuf sb;
+	int error;
+
+	if (sbuf_new(&sb, NULL, 0, SBUF_AUTOEXTEND | SBUF_NOWAIT) == NULL)
+		return;
+	sbuf_printf(&sb, "name=\"%s\" reason=\"", device_get_nameunit(ctrlr->dev));
+	sbuf_vprintf(&sb, msg, ap);
+	sbuf_printf(&sb, "\"");
+	error = sbuf_finish(&sb);
+	if (error == 0)
+		devctl_notify("nvme", "controller", type, sbuf_data(&sb));
+	sbuf_delete(&sb);
+}
+
 static void
 nvme_ctrlr_devctl_log(struct nvme_controller *ctrlr, const char *type, const char *msg, ...)
 {
@@ -71,17 +89,10 @@
 	error = sbuf_finish(&sb);
 	if (error == 0)
 		printf("%s\n", sbuf_data(&sb));
-
-	sbuf_clear(&sb);
-	sbuf_printf(&sb, "name=\"%s\" reason=\"", device_get_nameunit(ctrlr->dev));
+	sbuf_delete(&sb);
 	va_start(ap, msg);
-	sbuf_vprintf(&sb, msg, ap);
+	nvme_ctrlr_devctl_va(ctrlr, type, msg, ap);
 	va_end(ap);
-	sbuf_printf(&sb, "\"");
-	error = sbuf_finish(&sb);
-	if (error == 0)
-		devctl_notify("nvme", "controller", type, sbuf_data(&sb));
-	sbuf_delete(&sb);
 }
 
 static int