diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
index 0ee94f6a9..624bfde5b 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@
 #include "spdk/nvme.h"
 #include "spdk/io_channel.h"
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 #define SPDK_NVMF_BUILD_ETC "/usr/local/etc/nvmf"
 #define SPDK_NVMF_DEFAULT_CONFIG SPDK_NVMF_BUILD_ETC "/nvmf.conf"
 
@@ -70,11 +68,7 @@ static bool g_subsystems_shutdown;
 static void
 shutdown_complete(void)
 {
-	int rc;
-
-	rc = spdk_nvmf_check_pools();
-
-	spdk_app_stop(rc);
+	spdk_app_stop(0);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -380,7 +374,6 @@ This is the main file.
 	nvmf=>nvmf [label="spdk_event_allocate()"];
 	nvmf=>nvmf [label="spdk_app_start()"];
 	nvmf=>nvmf [label="spdk_app_fini()"];
-	nvmf=>nvmf [label="spdk_nvmf_check_pools()"];
 	c_runtime<<nvmf;
 
 \endmsc
diff --git a/examples/nvme/arbitration/arbitration.c b/examples/nvme/arbitration/arbitration.c
index b8882e7f1..8db5db48b 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/arbitration/arbitration.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/arbitration/arbitration.c
@@ -112,7 +112,6 @@ struct feature {
 	bool					valid;
 };
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool		= NULL;
 static struct rte_mempool *task_pool		= NULL;
 
 static struct ctrlr_entry *g_controllers	= NULL;
@@ -1141,17 +1140,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		return 1;
-	}
-
-	task_pool = rte_mempool_create("task_pool", 8192,
+	task_pool = rte_mempool_create("arbitration_task_pool", 8192,
 				       sizeof(struct arb_task),
 				       64, 0, NULL, NULL, task_ctor, NULL,
 				       SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
diff --git a/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c b/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
index bb3dcee42..1a681e507 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
@@ -89,9 +89,6 @@ struct spdk_fio_thread {
 
 };
 
-// Global request_mempool is used by libspdk_nvme.a and must be defined
-struct rte_mempool         *request_mempool;
-
 static bool
 probe_cb(void *cb_ctx, struct spdk_pci_device *dev, struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts *opts)
 {
@@ -209,15 +206,6 @@ static int spdk_fio_setup(struct thread_data *td)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-	if (!request_mempool) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "rte_mempool_create failed\n");
-		return 1;
-	}
-
 	/* Enumerate all of the controllers */
 	if (spdk_nvme_probe(td, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "spdk_nvme_probe() failed\n");
diff --git a/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c b/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c
index 96fb8849b..9fff5bf85 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ struct ns_entry {
 	struct spdk_nvme_qpair	*qpair;
 };
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 static struct ctrlr_entry *g_controllers = NULL;
 static struct ns_entry *g_namespaces = NULL;
 
@@ -356,22 +354,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	/*
-	 * Create the NVMe request buffer pool.  This will be used internally
-	 *  by the SPDK NVMe driver to allocate an spdk_nvme_request data
-	 *  structure for each I/O request.  This is implicitly passed to
-	 *  the SPDK NVMe driver via an extern declaration in nvme_impl.h.
-	 */
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		return 1;
-	}
-
 	printf("Initializing NVMe Controllers\n");
 
 	/*
diff --git a/examples/nvme/identify/identify.c b/examples/nvme/identify/identify.c
index 50d1cc2da..5b730025a 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/identify/identify.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/identify/identify.c
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@
 #include "spdk/nvme_intel.h"
 #include "spdk/pci_ids.h"
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 static int outstanding_commands;
 
 struct feature {
@@ -920,16 +918,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
 	rc = 0;
 	if (spdk_nvme_probe(NULL, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "spdk_nvme_probe() failed\n");
diff --git a/examples/nvme/nvme_manage/nvme_manage.c b/examples/nvme/nvme_manage/nvme_manage.c
index a080c042b..0d8faceef 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/nvme_manage/nvme_manage.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/nvme_manage/nvme_manage.c
@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@
 #include "spdk/nvme.h"
 #include "spdk/pci.h"
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 #define MAX_DEVS 64
 
 struct dev {
@@ -906,16 +904,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
 	if (spdk_nvme_probe(NULL, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "spdk_nvme_probe() failed\n");
 		return 1;
diff --git a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
index cabbc1007..c9a8cdeba 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
@@ -132,7 +132,6 @@ static int g_outstanding_commands;
 
 static bool g_latency_tracking_enable = false;
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
 static struct rte_mempool *task_pool;
 
 static struct ctrlr_entry *g_controllers = NULL;
@@ -1121,17 +1120,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		return 1;
-	}
-
-	task_pool = rte_mempool_create("task_pool", 8192,
+	task_pool = rte_mempool_create("perf_task_pool", 8192,
 				       sizeof(struct perf_task),
 				       64, 0, NULL, NULL, task_ctor, NULL,
 				       SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
diff --git a/examples/nvme/reserve/reservation.c b/examples/nvme/reserve/reservation.c
index 7add25165..6a00d69ae 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/reserve/reservation.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/reserve/reservation.c
@@ -42,8 +42,6 @@
 #include "spdk/nvme.h"
 #include "spdk/pci.h"
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 #define MAX_DEVS 64
 
 struct dev {
@@ -412,16 +410,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
 	if (spdk_nvme_probe(NULL, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "spdk_nvme_probe() failed\n");
 		return 1;
diff --git a/include/spdk/nvme.h b/include/spdk/nvme.h
index 3f0574061..9d7f4da1e 100644
--- a/include/spdk/nvme.h
+++ b/include/spdk/nvme.h
@@ -958,16 +958,6 @@ int spdk_nvme_ns_cmd_reservation_report(struct spdk_nvme_ns *ns,
 					void *payload, uint32_t len,
 					spdk_nvme_cmd_cb cb_fn, void *cb_arg);
 
-/**
- * \brief Get the size, in bytes, of an nvme_request.
- *
- * This is the size of the request objects that need to be allocated by the
- * nvme_alloc_request macro in nvme_impl.h
- *
- * This function is thread safe and can be called at any time.
- */
-size_t spdk_nvme_request_size(void);
-
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c b/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c
index 885365d86..af5213c26 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@
 
 #define MAX_NVME_NAME_LENGTH 64
 
-void init_request_mempool(void);
 static void blockdev_nvme_get_spdk_running_config(FILE *fp);
 
 struct nvme_device {
@@ -462,8 +461,6 @@ nvme_library_init(void)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	init_request_mempool();
-
 	nvme_luns_per_ns = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "NvmeLunsPerNs");
 	if (nvme_luns_per_ns < 1)
 		nvme_luns_per_ns = 1;
@@ -699,16 +696,6 @@ blockdev_nvme_unmap(struct nvme_blockdev *nbdev, struct spdk_io_channel *ch,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
-void init_request_mempool()
-{
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(),
-					     128, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-}
-
 static void
 blockdev_nvme_get_spdk_running_config(FILE *fp)
 {
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme.c b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
index 03d72d141..d8fb3073d 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ struct nvme_driver _g_nvme_driver = {
 	.lock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER,
 	.init_ctrlrs = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(_g_nvme_driver.init_ctrlrs),
 	.attached_ctrlrs = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(_g_nvme_driver.attached_ctrlrs),
+	.request_mempool = NULL,
 };
 
 struct nvme_driver *g_spdk_nvme_driver = &_g_nvme_driver;
@@ -93,20 +94,13 @@ nvme_completion_poll_cb(void *arg, const struct spdk_nvme_cpl *cpl)
 	status->done = true;
 }
 
-size_t
-spdk_nvme_request_size(void)
-{
-	return sizeof(struct nvme_request);
-}
-
 struct nvme_request *
 nvme_allocate_request(const struct nvme_payload *payload, uint32_t payload_size,
 		      spdk_nvme_cmd_cb cb_fn, void *cb_arg)
 {
 	struct nvme_request *req = NULL;
 
-	nvme_alloc_request(&req);
-
+	nvme_mempool_get(g_spdk_nvme_driver->request_mempool, (void **)&req);
 	if (req == NULL) {
 		return req;
 	}
@@ -214,7 +208,7 @@ nvme_free_request(struct nvme_request *req)
 	assert(req != NULL);
 	assert(req->num_children == 0);
 
-	nvme_dealloc_request(req);
+	nvme_mempool_put(g_spdk_nvme_driver->request_mempool, req);
 }
 
 int
@@ -284,6 +278,16 @@ spdk_nvme_probe(void *cb_ctx, spdk_nvme_probe_cb probe_cb, spdk_nvme_attach_cb a
 
 	pthread_mutex_lock(&g_spdk_nvme_driver->lock);
 
+	if (g_spdk_nvme_driver->request_mempool == NULL) {
+		g_spdk_nvme_driver->request_mempool = nvme_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
+						      sizeof(struct nvme_request), 128);
+		if (g_spdk_nvme_driver->request_mempool == NULL) {
+			nvme_printf(NULL, "Unable to allocate pool of requests\n");
+			pthread_mutex_unlock(&g_spdk_nvme_driver->lock);
+			return -1;
+		}
+	}
+
 	enum_ctx.probe_cb = probe_cb;
 	enum_ctx.cb_ctx = cb_ctx;
 
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_impl.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_impl.h
index 8c96d289a..acfdb0ab5 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_impl.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_impl.h
@@ -83,9 +83,7 @@
 /**
  * Allocate a pinned, physically contiguous memory buffer with the
  *   given size and alignment.
- * Note: these calls are only made during driver initialization.  Per
- *   I/O allocations during driver operation use the nvme_alloc_request
- *   callback.
+ * Note: these calls are only made during driver initialization.
  */
 static inline void *
 nvme_malloc(const char *tag, size_t size, unsigned align, uint64_t *phys_addr)
@@ -173,18 +171,41 @@ nvme_process_is_primary(void)
 #define nvme_vtophys(buf)		spdk_vtophys(buf)
 #define NVME_VTOPHYS_ERROR		SPDK_VTOPHYS_ERROR
 
-extern struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
+typedef struct rte_mempool nvme_mempool_t;
 
 /**
- * Return a buffer for an nvme_request object.  These objects are allocated
- *  for each I/O.  They do not need to be pinned nor physically contiguous.
+ * Create a mempool with the given configuration.
+ * Return a pointer to the allocated memory address. If the allocation
+ *   cannot be done, return NULL.
  */
-#define nvme_alloc_request(bufp)	rte_mempool_get(request_mempool, (void **)(bufp));
+static inline nvme_mempool_t *
+nvme_mempool_create(const char *name, unsigned n, unsigned elt_size,
+		    unsigned cache_size)
+{
+	struct rte_mempool *mp;
 
-/**
- * Free a buffer previously allocated with nvme_alloc_request().
- */
-#define nvme_dealloc_request(buf)	rte_mempool_put(request_mempool, buf)
+	mp = rte_mempool_create(name, n, elt_size, cache_size,
+				0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
+				SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
+
+	if (mp == NULL) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	return (nvme_mempool_t *)mp;
+}
+
+static inline void
+nvme_mempool_get(nvme_mempool_t *mp, void **buf)
+{
+	rte_mempool_get(mp, buf);
+}
+
+static inline void
+nvme_mempool_put(nvme_mempool_t *mp, void *buf)
+{
+	rte_mempool_put(mp, buf);
+}
 
 /**
  * Get a monotonic timestamp counter (used for measuring timeouts during initialization).
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index f8aaf882a..6f1eee98c 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -464,6 +464,7 @@ struct nvme_driver {
 	pthread_mutex_t	lock;
 	TAILQ_HEAD(, spdk_nvme_ctrlr)	init_ctrlrs;
 	TAILQ_HEAD(, spdk_nvme_ctrlr)	attached_ctrlrs;
+	nvme_mempool_t	*request_mempool;
 };
 
 struct pci_id {
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
index 5fd111d2d..108d88ca0 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
@@ -49,77 +49,10 @@ SPDK_LOG_REGISTER_TRACE_FLAG("nvmf", SPDK_TRACE_NVMF)
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_globals g_nvmf_tgt;
 
-extern struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-static unsigned g_num_requests;
-
-static int
-spdk_nvmf_initialize_pools(void)
-{
-	SPDK_NOTICELOG("\n*** NVMf Pool Creation ***\n");
-
-	g_num_requests = MAX_SUBSYSTEMS * g_nvmf_tgt.max_queues_per_session * g_nvmf_tgt.max_queue_depth;
-
-	/* create NVMe backend request pool */
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("NVMe_Pool",
-					     g_num_requests,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(),
-					     128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-	if (!request_mempool) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("create NVMe request pool failed\n");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_DEBUG, "NVMe request_mempool %p, size %" PRIu64 " bytes\n",
-		      request_mempool,
-		      (uint64_t)g_num_requests * spdk_nvme_request_size());
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
-/*
- * Wrapper to provide rte_mempool_avail_count() on older DPDK versions.
- * Drop this if the minimum DPDK version is raised to at least 16.07.
- */
-#if RTE_VERSION < RTE_VERSION_NUM(16, 7, 0, 1)
-static unsigned rte_mempool_avail_count(const struct rte_mempool *pool)
-{
-	return rte_mempool_count(pool);
-}
-#endif
-
-static int spdk_nvmf_check_pool(struct rte_mempool *pool, uint32_t count)
-{
-	if (rte_mempool_avail_count(pool) != count) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("rte_mempool_avail_count(%s) == %d, should be %d\n",
-			    pool->name, rte_mempool_avail_count(pool), count);
-		return -1;
-	} else {
-		return 0;
-	}
-}
-
-int
-spdk_nvmf_check_pools(void)
-{
-	int rc = 0;
-
-	rc += spdk_nvmf_check_pool(request_mempool, g_num_requests);
-
-	if (rc == 0) {
-		return 0;
-	} else {
-		return -1;
-	}
-}
-
 int
 nvmf_tgt_init(uint16_t max_queue_depth, uint16_t max_queues_per_sess,
 	      uint32_t in_capsule_data_size, uint32_t max_io_size)
 {
-	int rc;
-
 	g_nvmf_tgt.max_queues_per_session = max_queues_per_sess;
 	g_nvmf_tgt.max_queue_depth = max_queue_depth;
 	g_nvmf_tgt.in_capsule_data_size = in_capsule_data_size;
@@ -130,12 +63,6 @@ nvmf_tgt_init(uint16_t max_queue_depth, uint16_t max_queues_per_sess,
 	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_NVMF, "Max In Capsule Data: %d bytes\n", in_capsule_data_size);
 	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_NVMF, "Max I/O Size: %d bytes\n", max_io_size);
 
-	rc = spdk_nvmf_initialize_pools();
-	if (rc != 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("spdk_nvmf_initialize_pools() failed\n");
-		return rc;
-	}
-
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
index a22fd8691..078b2a4bc 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
@@ -73,8 +73,6 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_globals {
 int nvmf_tgt_init(uint16_t max_queue_depth, uint16_t max_conn_per_sess,
 		  uint32_t in_capsule_data_size, uint32_t max_io_size);
 
-int spdk_nvmf_check_pools(void);
-
 static inline uint32_t
 nvmf_u32log2(uint32_t x)
 {
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/aer/aer.c b/test/lib/nvme/aer/aer.c
index f1e619018..d6f696a53 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/aer/aer.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/aer/aer.c
@@ -41,8 +41,6 @@
 #include "spdk/nvme.h"
 #include "spdk/pci.h"
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 #define MAX_DEVS 64
 
 struct dev {
@@ -256,16 +254,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
 	if (spdk_nvme_probe(NULL, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "spdk_nvme_probe() failed\n");
 		return 1;
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/e2edp/nvme_dp.c b/test/lib/nvme/e2edp/nvme_dp.c
index 95062e2a6..01f65958d 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/e2edp/nvme_dp.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/e2edp/nvme_dp.c
@@ -68,8 +68,6 @@ static uint16_t swap16(uint16_t value)
 	return result;
 }
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 #define MAX_DEVS 64
 
 #define DATA_PATTERN 0x5A
@@ -584,16 +582,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
 	if (spdk_nvme_probe(NULL, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "nvme_probe() failed\n");
 		exit(1);
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/overhead/overhead.c b/test/lib/nvme/overhead/overhead.c
index 91ab23464..750a86a8f 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/overhead/overhead.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/overhead/overhead.c
@@ -98,8 +98,6 @@ struct perf_task {
 #endif
 };
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 static struct ctrlr_entry *g_ctrlr = NULL;
 static struct ns_entry *g_ns = NULL;
 
@@ -614,16 +612,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		return 1;
-	}
-
 	g_task = rte_zmalloc("task", sizeof(struct perf_task), 0);
 	if (g_task == NULL) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "g_task alloc failed\n");
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/reset/reset.c b/test/lib/nvme/reset/reset.c
index b969d2e1c..4210c40ef 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/reset/reset.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/reset/reset.c
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ struct worker_thread {
 	unsigned		lcore;
 };
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
 static struct rte_mempool *task_pool;
 
 static struct ctrlr_entry *g_controllers = NULL;
@@ -648,16 +647,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		return 1;
-	}
-
 	task_pool = rte_mempool_create("task_pool", 8192,
 				       sizeof(struct reset_task),
 				       64, 0, NULL, NULL, task_ctor, NULL,
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/sgl/nvme_sgl.c b/test/lib/nvme/sgl/nvme_sgl.c
index 3cc7a46ac..3decc5bd5 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/sgl/nvme_sgl.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/sgl/nvme_sgl.c
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@
 #include "spdk/nvme.h"
 #include "spdk/pci.h"
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 #define MAX_DEVS 64
 
 #define MAX_IOVS 128
@@ -431,16 +429,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	request_mempool = rte_mempool_create("nvme_request", 8192,
-					     spdk_nvme_request_size(), 128, 0,
-					     NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
-					     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0);
-
-	if (request_mempool == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize request mempool\n");
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
 	if (spdk_nvme_probe(NULL, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL) != 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "nvme_probe() failed\n");
 		exit(1);
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
index 7036bca43..190c03f89 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_ctrlr_c/nvme_ctrlr_ut.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 
 struct nvme_driver _g_nvme_driver = {
 	.lock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER,
+	.request_mempool = NULL,
 };
 
 static uint16_t g_pci_vendor_id;
@@ -119,7 +120,7 @@ nvme_qpair_submit_request(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, struct nvme_request *re
 	 * Free the request here so it does not leak.
 	 * For the purposes of this unit test, we don't need to bother emulating request submission.
 	 */
-	nvme_dealloc_request(req);
+	nvme_mempool_put(_g_nvme_driver.request_mempool, req);
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -286,7 +287,7 @@ nvme_allocate_request(const struct nvme_payload *payload, uint32_t payload_size,
 		      void *cb_arg)
 {
 	struct nvme_request *req = NULL;
-	nvme_alloc_request(&req);
+	nvme_mempool_get(_g_nvme_driver.request_mempool, (void **)&req);
 
 	if (req != NULL) {
 		memset(req, 0, offsetof(struct nvme_request, children));
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_impl.h b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_impl.h
index 83dafa47f..dc7d731f8 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_impl.h
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_impl.h
@@ -66,17 +66,6 @@ extern char outbuf[OUTBUF_SIZE];
 uint64_t nvme_vtophys(void *buf);
 #define NVME_VTOPHYS_ERROR	(0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFULL)
 
-#define nvme_alloc_request(bufp)	\
-do					\
-	{				\
-		if (posix_memalign((void **)(bufp), 64, sizeof(struct nvme_request))) {	\
-			*(bufp) = NULL;	\
-		}			\
-	}				\
-	while (0)
-
-#define nvme_dealloc_request(buf)	free(buf)
-
 extern uint64_t g_ut_tsc;
 #define nvme_get_tsc()			(g_ut_tsc)
 #define nvme_get_tsc_hz()		(1000000)
@@ -146,4 +135,29 @@ nvme_process_is_primary(void)
 	return true;
 }
 
+#define NVME_SOCKET_ID_ANY -1
+
+typedef unsigned nvme_mempool_t;
+
+static inline nvme_mempool_t *
+nvme_mempool_create(const char *name, unsigned n, unsigned elt_size,
+		    unsigned cache_size)
+{
+	static int mp;
+
+	return &mp;
+}
+
+static inline void
+nvme_mempool_get(nvme_mempool_t *mp, void **buf)
+{
+	posix_memalign(buf, 64, 0x1000);
+}
+
+static inline void
+nvme_mempool_put(nvme_mempool_t *mp, void *buf)
+{
+	free(buf);
+}
+
 #endif /* __NVME_IMPL_H__ */
diff --git a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c
index 4955815f7..d815537b3 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvme/unit/nvme_qpair_c/nvme_qpair_ut.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 
 struct nvme_driver _g_nvme_driver = {
 	.lock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER,
+	.request_mempool = NULL,
 };
 
 int32_t spdk_nvme_retry_count = 1;
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ nvme_allocate_request(const struct nvme_payload *payload, uint32_t payload_size,
 {
 	struct nvme_request *req = NULL;
 
-	nvme_alloc_request(&req);
+	nvme_mempool_get(_g_nvme_driver.request_mempool, (void **)&req);
 
 	if (req == NULL) {
 		return req;
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ nvme_allocate_request_null(spdk_nvme_cmd_cb cb_fn, void *cb_arg)
 void
 nvme_free_request(struct nvme_request *req)
 {
-	nvme_dealloc_request(req);
+	nvme_mempool_put(_g_nvme_driver.request_mempool, req);
 }
 
 void
@@ -263,7 +264,7 @@ ut_insert_cq_entry(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint32_t slot)
 	struct nvme_tracker 	*tr;
 	struct spdk_nvme_cpl	*cpl;
 
-	nvme_alloc_request(&req);
+	nvme_mempool_get(_g_nvme_driver.request_mempool, (void **)&req);
 	SPDK_CU_ASSERT_FATAL(req != NULL);
 	memset(req, 0, sizeof(*req));
 
diff --git a/test/lib/nvmf/nvmf/nvmf_ut.c b/test/lib/nvmf/nvmf/nvmf_ut.c
index 44d000822..568c3d271 100644
--- a/test/lib/nvmf/nvmf/nvmf_ut.c
+++ b/test/lib/nvmf/nvmf/nvmf_ut.c
@@ -81,8 +81,6 @@ struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr {
 
 static int controller_checked[20];
 
-struct rte_mempool *request_mempool;
-
 int spdk_nvmf_parse_conf(void)
 {
 	return 0;
@@ -218,12 +216,6 @@ spdk_nvme_ns_get_data(struct spdk_nvme_ns *ns)
 	return nsdata;
 }
 
-size_t
-spdk_nvme_request_size(void)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int
 spdk_nvme_detach(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
 {
@@ -316,14 +308,8 @@ nvmf_test_init(void)
 	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr;
 	uint32_t i;
 
-	request_mempool = NULL;
-	/* test that NVMf library will trap if mempool not created */
-	rc = nvmf_initialize();
-	CU_ASSERT(rc < 0);
-	request_mempool = malloc(sizeof(struct rte_mempool));
 	rc = nvmf_initialize();
 	CU_ASSERT(rc == 0);
-	free(request_mempool);
 	/* create faked controller */
 	ctrlr = malloc(sizeof(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr));
 	SPDK_CU_ASSERT_FATAL(ctrlr != NULL);