diff --git a/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-rl.c b/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-rl.c
index b014957dde0b..a5f8bc2defbc 100644
--- a/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-rl.c
+++ b/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-rl.c
@@ -233,10 +233,15 @@ void pblk_rl_init(struct pblk_rl *rl, int budget, int threshold)
 	/* To start with, all buffer is available to user I/O writers */
 	rl->rb_budget = budget;
 	rl->rb_user_max = budget;
-	rl->rb_max_io = threshold ? (budget - threshold) : (budget - 1);
 	rl->rb_gc_max = 0;
 	rl->rb_state = PBLK_RL_HIGH;
 
+	/* Maximize I/O size and ansure that back threshold is respected */
+	if (threshold)
+		rl->rb_max_io = budget - pblk->min_write_pgs_data - threshold;
+	else
+		rl->rb_max_io = budget - pblk->min_write_pgs_data - 1;
+
 	atomic_set(&rl->rb_user_cnt, 0);
 	atomic_set(&rl->rb_gc_cnt, 0);
 	atomic_set(&rl->rb_space, -1);