diff --git a/lib/event/app.c b/lib/event/app.c
index e04c6f188..ac05626c2 100644
--- a/lib/event/app.c
+++ b/lib/event/app.c
@@ -578,7 +578,7 @@ spdk_app_start(struct spdk_app_opts *opts, spdk_msg_fn start_fn,
 	struct spdk_conf	*config = NULL;
 	int			rc;
 	char			*tty;
-	struct spdk_cpuset	*tmp_cpumask;
+	struct spdk_cpuset	tmp_cpumask = {};
 
 	if (!opts) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("opts should not be NULL\n");
@@ -651,19 +651,11 @@ spdk_app_start(struct spdk_app_opts *opts, spdk_msg_fn start_fn,
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	tmp_cpumask = spdk_cpuset_alloc();
-	if (tmp_cpumask == NULL) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("spdk_cpuset_alloc() failed\n");
-		return 1;
-	}
-
-	spdk_cpuset_zero(tmp_cpumask);
-	spdk_cpuset_set_cpu(tmp_cpumask, spdk_env_get_current_core(), true);
+	spdk_cpuset_set_cpu(&tmp_cpumask, spdk_env_get_current_core(), true);
 
 	/* Now that the reactors have been initialized, we can create an
 	 * initialization thread. */
-	g_app_thread = spdk_thread_create("app_thread", tmp_cpumask);
-	spdk_cpuset_free(tmp_cpumask);
+	g_app_thread = spdk_thread_create("app_thread", &tmp_cpumask);
 	if (!g_app_thread) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to create an spdk_thread for initialization\n");
 		return 1;