diff --git a/lib/vhost/vhost.c b/lib/vhost/vhost.c
index f5b8822a5..2446e5713 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/vhost.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/vhost.c
@@ -297,7 +297,8 @@ spdk_vhost_dev_register(struct spdk_vhost_dev *vdev,
 			SPDK_ERRLOG("Cannot remove %s: not a socket.\n", path);
 			return -EINVAL;
 		} else if (unlink(path) != 0) {
-			rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Cannot remove %s.\n", path);
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Cannot remove %s.\n", path);
+			abort();
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -550,7 +551,8 @@ spdk_vhost_startup(void *arg1, void *arg2)
 	if (basename && strlen(basename) > 0) {
 		ret = snprintf(dev_dirname, sizeof(dev_dirname) - 2, "%s", basename);
 		if ((size_t)ret >= sizeof(dev_dirname) - 2) {
-			rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Char dev dir path length %d is too long\n", ret);
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Char dev dir path length %d is too long\n", ret);
+			abort();
 		}
 
 		if (dev_dirname[ret - 1] != '/') {
@@ -560,8 +562,10 @@ spdk_vhost_startup(void *arg1, void *arg2)
 	}
 
 	ret = spdk_vhost_scsi_controller_construct();
-	if (ret != 0)
-		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Cannot construct vhost controllers\n");
+	if (ret != 0) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Cannot construct vhost controllers\n");
+		abort();
+	}
 }
 
 static void *
@@ -590,8 +594,10 @@ void
 spdk_vhost_shutdown_cb(void)
 {
 	pthread_t tid;
-	if (pthread_create(&tid, NULL, &session_shutdown, NULL) < 0)
-		rte_panic("Failed to start session shutdown thread (%d): %s", errno, strerror(errno));
+	if (pthread_create(&tid, NULL, &session_shutdown, NULL) < 0) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to start session shutdown thread (%d): %s", errno, strerror(errno));
+		abort();
+	}
 	pthread_detach(tid);
 }