diff --git a/test/spdkcli/common.sh b/test/spdkcli/common.sh
index 40d3d3d14..7334c1039 100644
--- a/test/spdkcli/common.sh
+++ b/test/spdkcli/common.sh
@@ -32,12 +32,6 @@ function run_nvmf_tgt() {
 	waitforlisten $nvmf_tgt_pid
 }
 
-function run_iscsi_tgt() {
-	$rootdir/app/iscsi_tgt/iscsi_tgt -m 0x3 -p 0 -s 4096 &
-	iscsi_tgt_pid=$!
-	waitforlisten $iscsi_tgt_pid
-}
-
 function run_vhost_tgt() {
 	$rootdir/app/vhost/vhost -m 0x3 -p 0 -s 4096 &
 	vhost_tgt_pid=$!
diff --git a/test/spdkcli/iscsi.sh b/test/spdkcli/iscsi.sh
index 10ae362dd..9f1e90723 100755
--- a/test/spdkcli/iscsi.sh
+++ b/test/spdkcli/iscsi.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,13 @@ timing_enter spdkcli_iscsi
 trap 'on_error_exit;' ERR
 
 timing_enter run_iscsi_tgt
-run_iscsi_tgt
+
+# Running iscsi target with --wait-for-rpc. Implies start_subsystem_init later
+$rootdir/app/iscsi_tgt/iscsi_tgt -m 0x3 -p 0 -s 4096 --wait-for-rpc &
+iscsi_tgt_pid=$!
+waitforlisten $iscsi_tgt_pid
+$rootdir/scripts/rpc.py start_subsystem_init
+
 timing_exit run_iscsi_tgt
 
 timing_enter spdkcli_create_iscsi_config