diff --git a/include/spdk/rpc.h b/include/spdk/rpc.h
index 4f82f5f77..1dce7febb 100644
--- a/include/spdk/rpc.h
+++ b/include/spdk/rpc.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 
 #include "spdk/jsonrpc.h"
 
-void spdk_rpc_initialize(void);
+int spdk_rpc_initialize(void);
 int spdk_rpc_finish(void);
 void spdk_rpc_config_text(FILE *fp);
 
diff --git a/lib/event/subsystems/rpc/rpc.c b/lib/event/subsystems/rpc/rpc.c
index e6531354b..b6ab4ea6e 100644
--- a/lib/event/subsystems/rpc/rpc.c
+++ b/lib/event/subsystems/rpc/rpc.c
@@ -37,4 +37,21 @@
 
 #include "spdk_internal/event.h"
 
-SPDK_SUBSYSTEM_REGISTER(spdk_rpc, spdk_rpc_initialize, spdk_rpc_finish, spdk_rpc_config_text)
+static void
+spdk_rpc_subsystem_initialize(void)
+{
+	int rc;
+
+	rc = spdk_rpc_initialize();
+
+	spdk_subsystem_init_next(rc);
+}
+
+static int
+spdk_rpc_subsystem_finish(void)
+{
+	return spdk_rpc_finish();
+}
+
+SPDK_SUBSYSTEM_REGISTER(spdk_rpc, spdk_rpc_subsystem_initialize,
+			spdk_rpc_subsystem_finish, spdk_rpc_config_text)
diff --git a/lib/rpc/rpc.c b/lib/rpc/rpc.c
index b9bb38c84..22a862ca6 100644
--- a/lib/rpc/rpc.c
+++ b/lib/rpc/rpc.c
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ spdk_rpc_setup(void *arg)
 			     RPC_SELECT_INTERVAL);
 }
 
-void
+int
 spdk_rpc_initialize(void)
 {
 	/*
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ spdk_rpc_initialize(void)
 	 */
 	spdk_poller_register(&g_rpc_poller, spdk_rpc_setup, NULL, spdk_env_get_current_core(), 0);
 
-	spdk_subsystem_init_next(0);
+	return 0;
 }
 
 int