diff --git a/lib/blobfs/blobfs.c b/lib/blobfs/blobfs.c
index ab221f726..65c02fc02 100644
--- a/lib/blobfs/blobfs.c
+++ b/lib/blobfs/blobfs.c
@@ -257,8 +257,14 @@ __start_cache_pool_mgmt(void *ctx)
 					   SPDK_MEMPOOL_DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE,
 					   SPDK_ENV_SOCKET_ID_ANY);
 	if (!g_cache_pool) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Create mempool failed, you may "
-			    "increase the memory and try again\n");
+		if (spdk_mempool_lookup("spdk_fs_cache") != NULL) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate mempool: already exists\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Probably running in multiprocess environment, which is "
+				    "unsupported by the blobfs library\n");
+		} else {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Create mempool failed, you may "
+				    "increase the memory and try again\n");
+		}
 		assert(false);
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
index d5d7e217b..70bb4aace 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
@@ -55,7 +55,13 @@ iscsi_initialize_pdu_pool(void)
 					      sizeof(struct spdk_iscsi_pdu),
 					      256, SPDK_ENV_SOCKET_ID_ANY);
 	if (!iscsi->pdu_pool) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("create PDU pool failed\n");
+		if (spdk_mempool_lookup("PDU_Pool") != NULL) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Cannot create PDU pool: already exists\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Probably running in multiprocess environment, which is "
+				    "unsupported by the iSCSI library\n");
+		} else {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("create PDU pool failed\n");
+		}
 		return -1;
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/rdma.c b/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
index b7a614b41..012903ee8 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
@@ -2506,7 +2506,13 @@ nvmf_rdma_create(struct spdk_nvmf_transport_opts *opts)
 				   SPDK_MEMPOOL_DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE,
 				   SPDK_ENV_SOCKET_ID_ANY);
 	if (!rtransport->data_wr_pool) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate work request pool for poll group\n");
+		if (spdk_mempool_lookup("spdk_nvmf_rdma_wr_data") != NULL) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate work request pool for poll group: already exists\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Probably running in multiprocess environment, which is "
+				    "unsupported by the nvmf library\n");
+		} else {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate work request pool for poll group\n");
+		}
 		nvmf_rdma_destroy(&rtransport->transport, NULL, NULL);
 		return NULL;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/transport.c b/lib/nvmf/transport.c
index 247476e6f..50e4c84b9 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/transport.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/transport.c
@@ -233,7 +233,13 @@ spdk_nvmf_transport_create(const char *transport_name, struct spdk_nvmf_transpor
 					   SPDK_ENV_SOCKET_ID_ANY);
 
 		if (!transport->data_buf_pool) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate buffer pool for poll group\n");
+			if (spdk_mempool_lookup(spdk_mempool_name) != NULL) {
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate poll group buffer pull: already exists\n");
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("Probably running in multiprocess environment, which is "
+					    "unsupported by the nvmf library\n");
+			} else {
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate buffer pool for poll group\n");
+			}
 			ops->destroy(transport, NULL, NULL);
 			return NULL;
 		}
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_async_ut/blobfs_async_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_async_ut/blobfs_async_ut.c
index b3509a234..0709c1063 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_async_ut/blobfs_async_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_async_ut/blobfs_async_ut.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ int g_fserrno;
 DEFINE_STUB(spdk_memory_domain_memzero, int, (struct spdk_memory_domain *src_domain,
 		void *src_domain_ctx, struct iovec *iov, uint32_t iovcnt, void (*cpl_cb)(void *, int),
 		void *cpl_cb_arg), 0);
+DEFINE_STUB(spdk_mempool_lookup, struct spdk_mempool *, (const char *name), NULL);
 
 static void
 fs_op_complete(void *ctx, int fserrno)
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c
index 2e97ea16e..8ed7e2f6b 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ struct ut_request {
 DEFINE_STUB(spdk_memory_domain_memzero, int, (struct spdk_memory_domain *src_domain,
 		void *src_domain_ctx, struct iovec *iov, uint32_t iovcnt, void (*cpl_cb)(void *, int),
 		void *cpl_cb_arg), 0);
+DEFINE_STUB(spdk_mempool_lookup, struct spdk_mempool *, (const char *name), NULL);
 
 static void
 send_request(fs_request_fn fn, void *arg)
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/rdma.c/rdma_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/rdma.c/rdma_ut.c
index ee16f8267..7ec495819 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/rdma.c/rdma_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/rdma.c/rdma_ut.c
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ DEFINE_STUB(nvmf_ctrlr_abort_request, int, (struct spdk_nvmf_request *req), 0);
 DEFINE_STUB(spdk_nvme_transport_id_adrfam_str, const char *, (enum spdk_nvmf_adrfam adrfam), NULL);
 DEFINE_STUB(ibv_dereg_mr, int, (struct ibv_mr *mr), 0);
 DEFINE_STUB(ibv_resize_cq, int, (struct ibv_cq *cq, int cqe), 0);
+DEFINE_STUB(spdk_mempool_lookup, struct spdk_mempool *, (const char *name), NULL);
 
 /* ibv_reg_mr can be a macro, need to undefine it */
 #ifdef ibv_reg_mr
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/transport.c/transport_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/transport.c/transport_ut.c
index 6b9c4b944..428be0dbe 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/transport.c/transport_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/transport.c/transport_ut.c
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ DEFINE_STUB(ut_transport_listen, int, (struct spdk_nvmf_transport *transport,
 				       const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid, struct spdk_nvmf_listen_opts *opts), 0);
 DEFINE_STUB_V(ut_transport_stop_listen, (struct spdk_nvmf_transport *transport,
 		const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid));
+DEFINE_STUB(spdk_mempool_lookup, struct spdk_mempool *, (const char *name), NULL);
 
 /* ibv_reg_mr can be a macro, need to undefine it */
 #ifdef ibv_reg_mr