diff --git a/lib/nvmf/transport.c b/lib/nvmf/transport.c
index 67325a3b9..e9971db8e 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/transport.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/transport.c
@@ -551,37 +551,40 @@ nvmf_transport_poll_group_create(struct spdk_nvmf_transport *transport,
 	STAILQ_INIT(&tgroup->pending_buf_queue);
 	STAILQ_INIT(&tgroup->buf_cache);
 
-	if (transport->opts.buf_cache_size) {
-		tgroup->buf_cache_size = transport->opts.buf_cache_size;
-		bufs = calloc(tgroup->buf_cache_size, sizeof(struct spdk_nvmf_transport_pg_cache_buf *));
-
-		if (!bufs) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("Memory allocation failed, can't reserve buffers for the pg buffer cache\n");
-			return tgroup;
-		}
-
-		if (spdk_mempool_get_bulk(transport->data_buf_pool, (void **)bufs, tgroup->buf_cache_size)) {
-			tgroup->buf_cache_size = (uint32_t)spdk_mempool_count(transport->data_buf_pool);
-			SPDK_NOTICELOG("Unable to reserve the full number of buffers for the pg buffer cache. "
-				       "Decrease the number of cached buffers from %u to %u\n",
-				       transport->opts.buf_cache_size, tgroup->buf_cache_size);
-			/* Sanity check */
-			assert(tgroup->buf_cache_size <= transport->opts.buf_cache_size);
-			/* Try again with less number of buffers */
-			if (spdk_mempool_get_bulk(transport->data_buf_pool, (void **)bufs, tgroup->buf_cache_size)) {
-				SPDK_NOTICELOG("Failed to reserve %u buffers\n", tgroup->buf_cache_size);
-				tgroup->buf_cache_size = 0;
-			}
-		}
-
-		for (i = 0; i < tgroup->buf_cache_size; i++) {
-			STAILQ_INSERT_HEAD(&tgroup->buf_cache, bufs[i], link);
-		}
-		tgroup->buf_cache_count = tgroup->buf_cache_size;
-
-		free(bufs);
+	if (transport->opts.buf_cache_size == 0) {
+		/* We aren't going to allocate any buffers for the cache, so just return now. */
+		return tgroup;
 	}
 
+	tgroup->buf_cache_size = transport->opts.buf_cache_size;
+	bufs = calloc(tgroup->buf_cache_size, sizeof(struct spdk_nvmf_transport_pg_cache_buf *));
+
+	if (!bufs) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Memory allocation failed, can't reserve buffers for the pg buffer cache\n");
+		return tgroup;
+	}
+
+	if (spdk_mempool_get_bulk(transport->data_buf_pool, (void **)bufs, tgroup->buf_cache_size)) {
+		tgroup->buf_cache_size = (uint32_t)spdk_mempool_count(transport->data_buf_pool);
+		SPDK_NOTICELOG("Unable to reserve the full number of buffers for the pg buffer cache. "
+			       "Decrease the number of cached buffers from %u to %u\n",
+			       transport->opts.buf_cache_size, tgroup->buf_cache_size);
+		/* Sanity check */
+		assert(tgroup->buf_cache_size <= transport->opts.buf_cache_size);
+		/* Try again with less number of buffers */
+		if (spdk_mempool_get_bulk(transport->data_buf_pool, (void **)bufs, tgroup->buf_cache_size)) {
+			SPDK_NOTICELOG("Failed to reserve %u buffers\n", tgroup->buf_cache_size);
+			tgroup->buf_cache_size = 0;
+		}
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < tgroup->buf_cache_size; i++) {
+		STAILQ_INSERT_HEAD(&tgroup->buf_cache, bufs[i], link);
+	}
+	tgroup->buf_cache_count = tgroup->buf_cache_size;
+
+	free(bufs);
+
 	return tgroup;
 }