Narrowband (NB) Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) demodulation reference signals (DMRS) bundling coverage enhancements are disclosed. In some aspects, NB PDCCH DMRS bundling resources and timing are allocated in a virtual domain by a transmitting device, such as a base station. In some aspects the allocated resources are control channel elements (CCEs); the CCEs are allocated according to a pattern in the virtual domain. The base station may transmit NB PDCCH transmissions and corresponding DMRS transmissions in physical domain resources that correspond to the virtual domain resources, the CCE allocation pattern. In some aspects, the NB PDCCH DMRS can be used with PDCCH repetitions. To illustrate, a base station may repeat a PDCCH transmission (e.g., payload data thereof) in multiple particular PDCCH candidates of a plurality of PDCCH candidates. The particular PDCCH candidates may be identified based on PDCCH candidate number or a reference slot or search space set occasion.