diff --git a/lib/iscsi/conn.c b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
index 438f968ed..7f12a06a4 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/conn.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
@@ -56,9 +56,8 @@
 	memset(&(conn)->portal, 0, sizeof(*(conn)) -	\
 		offsetof(struct spdk_iscsi_conn, portal));
 
-#define DEFAULT_CONNECTIONS_PER_LCORE	4
 #define SPDK_MAX_POLLERS_PER_CORE	4096
-static int g_connections_per_lcore = DEFAULT_CONNECTIONS_PER_LCORE;
+static int g_connections_per_lcore;
 static uint32_t *g_num_connections;
 
 struct spdk_iscsi_conn *g_conns_array;
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi.h b/lib/iscsi/iscsi.h
index 674754728..cbd162187 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi.h
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi.h
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@
 #define DEFAULT_TIMEOUT 60
 #define MAX_NOPININTERVAL 60
 #define DEFAULT_NOPININTERVAL 30
+#define DEFAULT_CONNECTIONS_PER_LCORE 4
 
 /*
  * SPDK iSCSI target currently only supports 64KB as the maximum data segment length
@@ -282,6 +283,7 @@ struct spdk_iscsi_opts {
 	bool ImmediateData;
 	uint32_t ErrorRecoveryLevel;
 	bool AllowDuplicateIsid;
+	uint32_t min_connections_per_core;
 };
 
 struct spdk_iscsi_globals {
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
index 99bbe24a7..a34401a82 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
@@ -590,6 +590,7 @@ spdk_iscsi_opts_init(struct spdk_iscsi_opts *opts)
 	opts->discovery_auth_group = 0;
 	opts->authfile = strdup(SPDK_ISCSI_DEFAULT_AUTHFILE);
 	opts->nodebase = strdup(SPDK_ISCSI_DEFAULT_NODEBASE);
+	opts->min_connections_per_core = DEFAULT_CONNECTIONS_PER_LCORE;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -754,7 +755,7 @@ spdk_iscsi_read_config_file_params(struct spdk_conf_section *sp,
 	}
 	min_conn_per_core = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "MinConnectionsPerCore");
 	if (min_conn_per_core >= 0) {
-		spdk_iscsi_conn_set_min_per_core(min_conn_per_core);
+		opts->min_connections_per_core = min_conn_per_core;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -807,6 +808,8 @@ spdk_iscsi_initialize_iscsi_globals(struct spdk_iscsi_opts *opts)
 	g_spdk_iscsi.req_discovery_auth_mutual = opts->req_discovery_auth;
 	g_spdk_iscsi.discovery_auth_group = opts->discovery_auth_group;
 
+	spdk_iscsi_conn_set_min_per_core(opts->min_connections_per_core);
+
 	g_spdk_iscsi.session = spdk_dma_zmalloc(sizeof(void *) * g_spdk_iscsi.MaxSessions, 0, NULL);
 	if (!g_spdk_iscsi.session) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("spdk_dma_zmalloc() failed for session array\n");