diff --git a/app/trace_record/trace_record.c b/app/trace_record/trace_record.c
index 2c2aeea80..52cb1de0b 100644
--- a/app/trace_record/trace_record.c
+++ b/app/trace_record/trace_record.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ static uint64_t g_histories_size;
 struct lcore_trace_record_ctx {
 	char lcore_file[TRACE_PATH_MAX];
 	int fd;
+	bool valid;
 	struct spdk_trace_history *in_history;
 	struct spdk_trace_history *out_history;
 
@@ -94,11 +95,15 @@ input_trace_file_mmap(struct aggr_trace_record_ctx *ctx, const char *shm_name)
 
 	ctx->trace_histories = (struct spdk_trace_histories *)history_ptr;
 	for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE; i++) {
-		ctx->lcore_ports[i].in_history = spdk_get_per_lcore_history(ctx->trace_histories, i);
+		struct spdk_trace_history *history;
 
-		if (g_verbose) {
+		history = spdk_get_per_lcore_history(ctx->trace_histories, i);
+		ctx->lcore_ports[i].in_history = history;
+		ctx->lcore_ports[i].valid = (history != NULL);
+
+		if (g_verbose && history) {
 			printf("Number of trace entries for lcore (%d): %ju\n", i,
-			       ctx->lcore_ports[i].in_history->num_entries);
+			       history->num_entries);
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -149,6 +154,10 @@ output_trace_files_prepare(struct aggr_trace_record_ctx *ctx, const char *aggr_p
 	for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE; i++) {
 		port_ctx = &ctx->lcore_ports[i];
 
+		if (!port_ctx->valid) {
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		port_ctx->fd = open(port_ctx->lcore_file, flags, 0600);
 		if (port_ctx->fd < 0) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "Could not open lcore file %s.\n", port_ctx->lcore_file);
@@ -432,6 +441,7 @@ trace_files_aggregate(struct aggr_trace_record_ctx *ctx)
 	uint64_t lcore_offsets[SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE + 1];
 	int rc, i;
 	ssize_t len = 0;
+	uint64_t current_offset;
 	uint64_t len_sum;
 
 	ctx->out_fd = open(ctx->out_file, flags, 0600);
@@ -453,11 +463,17 @@ trace_files_aggregate(struct aggr_trace_record_ctx *ctx)
 	}
 
 	/* Update and append lcore offsets converged trace file */
-	lcore_offsets[0] = sizeof(struct spdk_trace_flags);
-	for (i = 1; i < (int)SPDK_COUNTOF(lcore_offsets); i++) {
-		lcore_offsets[i] = spdk_get_trace_history_size(ctx->lcore_ports[i - 1].num_entries) +
-				   lcore_offsets[i - 1];
+	current_offset = sizeof(struct spdk_trace_flags);
+	for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE; i++) {
+		lcore_port = &ctx->lcore_ports[i];
+		if (lcore_port->valid) {
+			lcore_offsets[i] = current_offset;
+			current_offset += spdk_get_trace_history_size(lcore_port->num_entries);
+		} else {
+			lcore_offsets[i] = 0;
+		}
 	}
+	lcore_offsets[SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE] = current_offset;
 
 	rc = cont_write(ctx->out_fd, lcore_offsets, sizeof(lcore_offsets));
 	if (rc < 0) {
@@ -469,6 +485,10 @@ trace_files_aggregate(struct aggr_trace_record_ctx *ctx)
 	for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE; i++) {
 		lcore_port = &ctx->lcore_ports[i];
 
+		if (!lcore_port->valid) {
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		lcore_port->out_history->num_entries = lcore_port->num_entries;
 		rc = cont_write(ctx->out_fd, lcore_port->out_history, sizeof(struct spdk_trace_history));
 		if (rc < 0) {
@@ -493,6 +513,9 @@ trace_files_aggregate(struct aggr_trace_record_ctx *ctx)
 			}
 		}
 
+		/* Clear rc so that the last cont_write() doesn't get interpreted as a failure. */
+		rc = 0;
+
 		if (len_sum != lcore_port->num_entries * sizeof(struct spdk_trace_entry)) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "Len of lcore trace file doesn't match number of entries for lcore\n");
 		}
@@ -639,6 +662,9 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE; i++) {
 			lcore_port = &ctx.lcore_ports[i];
 
+			if (!lcore_port->valid) {
+				continue;
+			}
 			rc = lcore_trace_record(lcore_port);
 			if (rc) {
 				break;
diff --git a/include/spdk/trace.h b/include/spdk/trace.h
index 8ba901292..b8e20f164 100644
--- a/include/spdk/trace.h
+++ b/include/spdk/trace.h
@@ -157,16 +157,18 @@ spdk_get_trace_histories_size(struct spdk_trace_histories *trace_histories)
 static inline struct spdk_trace_history *
 spdk_get_per_lcore_history(struct spdk_trace_histories *trace_histories, unsigned lcore)
 {
-	char *lcore_history_offset;
+	uint64_t lcore_history_offset;
 
 	if (lcore >= SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE) {
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	lcore_history_offset = (char *)trace_histories;
-	lcore_history_offset += trace_histories->flags.lcore_history_offsets[lcore];
+	lcore_history_offset = trace_histories->flags.lcore_history_offsets[lcore];
+	if (lcore_history_offset == 0) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
-	return (struct spdk_trace_history *)lcore_history_offset;
+	return (struct spdk_trace_history *)(((char *)trace_histories) + lcore_history_offset);
 }
 
 void _spdk_trace_record(uint64_t tsc, uint16_t tpoint_id, uint16_t poller_id,
diff --git a/lib/trace/trace.c b/lib/trace/trace.c
index f1fe8c019..7409d1a6b 100644
--- a/lib/trace/trace.c
+++ b/lib/trace/trace.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "spdk/util.h"
 #include "spdk/barrier.h"
 #include "spdk/log.h"
+#include "spdk/cpuset.h"
 
 static int g_trace_fd = -1;
 static char g_shm_name[64];
@@ -142,20 +143,24 @@ _spdk_trace_record(uint64_t tsc, uint16_t tpoint_id, uint16_t poller_id, uint32_
 int
 spdk_trace_init(const char *shm_name, uint64_t num_entries)
 {
-	int i = 0;
+	uint32_t i = 0;
 	int histories_size;
-	uint64_t lcore_offsets[SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE + 1];
+	uint64_t lcore_offsets[SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE + 1] = { 0 };
+	struct spdk_cpuset cpuset = {};
 
 	/* 0 entries requested - skip trace initialization */
 	if (num_entries == 0) {
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	lcore_offsets[0] = sizeof(struct spdk_trace_flags);
-	for (i = 1; i < (int)SPDK_COUNTOF(lcore_offsets); i++) {
-		lcore_offsets[i] = spdk_get_trace_history_size(num_entries) + lcore_offsets[i - 1];
+	spdk_cpuset_zero(&cpuset);
+	histories_size = sizeof(struct spdk_trace_flags);
+	SPDK_ENV_FOREACH_CORE(i) {
+		spdk_cpuset_set_cpu(&cpuset, i, true);
+		lcore_offsets[i] = histories_size;
+		histories_size += spdk_get_trace_history_size(num_entries);
 	}
-	histories_size = lcore_offsets[SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE];
+	lcore_offsets[SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE] = histories_size;
 
 	snprintf(g_shm_name, sizeof(g_shm_name), "%s", shm_name);
 
@@ -202,6 +207,10 @@ spdk_trace_init(const char *shm_name, uint64_t num_entries)
 		struct spdk_trace_history *lcore_history;
 
 		g_trace_flags->lcore_history_offsets[i] = lcore_offsets[i];
+		if (lcore_offsets[i] == 0) {
+			continue;
+		}
+		assert(spdk_cpuset_get_cpu(&cpuset, i));
 		lcore_history = spdk_get_per_lcore_history(g_trace_histories, i);
 		lcore_history->lcore = i;
 		lcore_history->num_entries = num_entries;
@@ -228,7 +237,7 @@ trace_init_err:
 void
 spdk_trace_cleanup(void)
 {
-	bool unlink;
+	bool unlink = true;
 	int i;
 	struct spdk_trace_history *lcore_history;
 
@@ -243,6 +252,9 @@ spdk_trace_cleanup(void)
 	 */
 	for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE; i++) {
 		lcore_history = spdk_get_per_lcore_history(g_trace_histories, i);
+		if (lcore_history == NULL) {
+			continue;
+		}
 		unlink = lcore_history->entries[0].tsc == 0;
 		if (!unlink) {
 			break;
diff --git a/lib/trace_parser/trace.cpp b/lib/trace_parser/trace.cpp
index 64b97122c..593004cb3 100644
--- a/lib/trace_parser/trace.cpp
+++ b/lib/trace_parser/trace.cpp
@@ -97,9 +97,8 @@ spdk_trace_parser::entry_count(uint16_t lcore) const
 	}
 
 	history = spdk_get_per_lcore_history(_histories, lcore);
-	assert(history);
 
-	return history->num_entries;
+	return history == NULL ? 0 : history->num_entries;
 }
 
 spdk_trace_entry_buffer *
@@ -340,8 +339,7 @@ spdk_trace_parser::init(const spdk_trace_parser_opts *opts)
 	if (opts->lcore == SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE) {
 		for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_LCORE; i++) {
 			history = spdk_get_per_lcore_history(_histories, i);
-			assert(history);
-			if (history->num_entries == 0 || history->entries[0].tsc == 0) {
+			if (history == NULL || history->num_entries == 0 || history->entries[0].tsc == 0) {
 				continue;
 			}
 
@@ -349,7 +347,11 @@ spdk_trace_parser::init(const spdk_trace_parser_opts *opts)
 		}
 	} else {
 		history = spdk_get_per_lcore_history(_histories, opts->lcore);
-		assert(history);
+		if (history == NULL) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Trace file %s has no trace history for lcore %d\n",
+				    opts->filename, opts->lcore);
+			return false;
+		}
 		if (history->num_entries > 0 && history->entries[0].tsc != 0) {
 			populate_events(history, history->num_entries);
 		}
diff --git a/mk/spdk.unittest.mk b/mk/spdk.unittest.mk
index 60307eb20..dbd051360 100644
--- a/mk/spdk.unittest.mk
+++ b/mk/spdk.unittest.mk
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ CFLAGS += -ffunction-sections
 CFLAGS += -DSPDK_UNIT_TEST=1
 LDFLAGS += -Wl,--gc-sections
 
-SPDK_LIB_LIST += thread util log trace
+SPDK_LIB_LIST += thread trace util log
 
 LIBS += -lcunit $(SPDK_STATIC_LIB_LINKER_ARGS)