To prevent RPM decrease, misfire, and engine stall by refraining from correcting, the amount of fuel to shift an air-fuel ratio toward a lean side to the extent of exceeding a combustion limit when the internal combustion engine operates at a low load, a control apparatus is provided for controlling operation of an internal combustion engine. The apparatus includes: air-fuel ratio state determining means; characteristic retaining means; and fuel correction amount calculating means, in which a coolant temperature coefficient of a coolant temperature coefficient characteristic is set to be smaller than a constant value in a region where a coolant temperature is lower than a constant temperature.