A controller for a wire electrical discharge machine that machines a workpiece along a machining path by relatively moving the workpiece and a wire electrode to each other while generating electric discharge across an electrode gap between the workpiece and the wire electrode, includes: a machining surface state acquisition unit configured to acquire the state of a machining surface of the workpiece; and a machining path setting unit configured to specify an excessively machined portion of the workpiece based on the acquired state of the machining surface and set an approach point at which the wire electrode is made to approach the machining surface from a machining start point, so as to avoid the excessively machined portion.