diff --git a/include/spdk/env.h b/include/spdk/env.h
index fb81b5678..86c133b61 100644
--- a/include/spdk/env.h
+++ b/include/spdk/env.h
@@ -227,6 +227,12 @@ uint32_t spdk_env_get_current_core(void);
  */
 uint32_t spdk_env_get_first_core(void);
 
+/**
+ * \brief Return the index of the last dedicated CPU core for
+ *	  this application.
+ */
+uint32_t spdk_env_get_last_core(void);
+
 /**
  * \brief Return the index of the next dedicated CPU core for
  *	  this application.
diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/threads.c b/lib/env_dpdk/threads.c
index 3a06d0446..1e23906cd 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/threads.c
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/threads.c
@@ -54,6 +54,24 @@ spdk_env_get_first_core(void)
 	return rte_get_next_lcore(-1, 0, 0);
 }
 
+uint32_t
+spdk_env_get_last_core(void)
+{
+	uint32_t i;
+	static uint32_t last_core = UINT32_MAX;
+
+	/* Already know the last_core, just return */
+	if (last_core != UINT32_MAX) {
+		return last_core;
+	}
+
+	SPDK_ENV_FOREACH_CORE(i) {
+		last_core = i;
+	}
+
+	return last_core;
+}
+
 uint32_t
 spdk_env_get_next_core(uint32_t prev_core)
 {
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/conn.c b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
index c5b95996c..27bd1aabf 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/conn.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ int spdk_initialize_iscsi_conns(void)
 {
 	size_t conns_size;
 	int conns_array_fd, rc;
-	uint32_t i, last_core = 0;
+	uint32_t i, last_core;
 
 	SPDK_DEBUGLOG(SPDK_LOG_ISCSI, "spdk_iscsi_init\n");
 
@@ -383,10 +383,7 @@ int spdk_initialize_iscsi_conns(void)
 		g_conns_array[i].id = i;
 	}
 
-	SPDK_ENV_FOREACH_CORE(i) {
-		last_core = i;
-	}
-
+	last_core = spdk_env_get_last_core();
 	g_num_connections = calloc(last_core + 1, sizeof(uint32_t));
 	if (!g_num_connections) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Could not allocate array size=%u for g_num_connections\n",