diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
index d2eb9df3da3d83..97b5e01a6814d6 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
@@ -4787,6 +4787,10 @@ void swap_buf_le16(u16 *buf, unsigned int buf_words)
  *	ata_qc_new - Request an available ATA command, for queueing
  *	@ap: target port
  *
+ *	Some ATA host controllers may implement a queue depth which is less
+ *	than ATA_MAX_QUEUE. So we shouldn't allocate a tag which is beyond
+ *	the hardware limitation.
+ *
  *	LOCKING:
  *	None.
  */
@@ -4794,14 +4798,16 @@ void swap_buf_le16(u16 *buf, unsigned int buf_words)
 static struct ata_queued_cmd *ata_qc_new(struct ata_port *ap)
 {
 	struct ata_queued_cmd *qc = NULL;
-	unsigned int i, tag;
+	unsigned int i, tag, max_queue;
+
+	max_queue = ap->scsi_host->can_queue;
 
 	/* no command while frozen */
 	if (unlikely(ap->pflags & ATA_PFLAG_FROZEN))
 		return NULL;
 
-	for (i = 0; i < ATA_MAX_QUEUE; i++) {
-		tag = (i + ap->last_tag + 1) % ATA_MAX_QUEUE;
+	for (i = 0, tag = ap->last_tag + 1; i < max_queue; i++, tag++) {
+		tag = tag < max_queue ? tag : 0;
 
 		/* the last tag is reserved for internal command. */
 		if (tag == ATA_TAG_INTERNAL)
@@ -6184,6 +6190,16 @@ int ata_host_register(struct ata_host *host, struct scsi_host_template *sht)
 {
 	int i, rc;
 
+	/*
+	 * The max queue supported by hardware must not be greater than
+	 * ATA_MAX_QUEUE.
+	 */
+	if (sht->can_queue > ATA_MAX_QUEUE) {
+		dev_err(host->dev, "BUG: the hardware max queue is too large\n");
+		WARN_ON(1);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	/* host must have been started */
 	if (!(host->flags & ATA_HOST_STARTED)) {
 		dev_err(host->dev, "BUG: trying to register unstarted host\n");