diff --git a/lib/event/reactor.c b/lib/event/reactor.c
index 28c8f4764..7bd694292 100644
--- a/lib/event/reactor.c
+++ b/lib/event/reactor.c
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@
 #define SPDK_MAX_SOCKET		64
 
 #define SPDK_REACTOR_SPIN_TIME_USEC	1000
-#define SPDK_TIMER_POLL_ITERATIONS	5
 #define SPDK_EVENT_BATCH_SIZE		8
 #define SPDK_SEC_TO_USEC		1000000ULL
 
@@ -439,7 +438,6 @@ _spdk_reactor_run(void *arg)
 	uint64_t		idle_started, now;
 	uint64_t		spin_cycles, sleep_cycles;
 	uint32_t		sleep_us;
-	uint32_t		timer_poll_count;
 	char			thread_name[32];
 
 	snprintf(thread_name, sizeof(thread_name), "reactor_%u", reactor->lcore);
@@ -455,7 +453,6 @@ _spdk_reactor_run(void *arg)
 	spin_cycles = SPDK_REACTOR_SPIN_TIME_USEC * spdk_get_ticks_hz() / SPDK_SEC_TO_USEC;
 	sleep_cycles = reactor->max_delay_us * spdk_get_ticks_hz() / SPDK_SEC_TO_USEC;
 	idle_started = 0;
-	timer_poll_count = 0;
 	if (g_context_switch_monitor_enabled) {
 		_spdk_reactor_context_switch_monitor_start(reactor, NULL);
 	}
@@ -481,27 +478,22 @@ _spdk_reactor_run(void *arg)
 			took_action = true;
 		}
 
-		if (timer_poll_count >= SPDK_TIMER_POLL_ITERATIONS) {
-			poller = TAILQ_FIRST(&reactor->timer_pollers);
-			if (poller) {
-				now = spdk_get_ticks();
+		poller = TAILQ_FIRST(&reactor->timer_pollers);
+		if (poller) {
+			now = spdk_get_ticks();
 
-				if (now >= poller->next_run_tick) {
-					TAILQ_REMOVE(&reactor->timer_pollers, poller, tailq);
-					poller->state = SPDK_POLLER_STATE_RUNNING;
-					poller->fn(poller->arg);
-					if (poller->state == SPDK_POLLER_STATE_UNREGISTERED) {
-						free(poller);
-					} else {
-						poller->state = SPDK_POLLER_STATE_WAITING;
-						_spdk_poller_insert_timer(reactor, poller, now);
-					}
-					took_action = true;
+			if (now >= poller->next_run_tick) {
+				TAILQ_REMOVE(&reactor->timer_pollers, poller, tailq);
+				poller->state = SPDK_POLLER_STATE_RUNNING;
+				poller->fn(poller->arg);
+				if (poller->state == SPDK_POLLER_STATE_UNREGISTERED) {
+					free(poller);
+				} else {
+					poller->state = SPDK_POLLER_STATE_WAITING;
+					_spdk_poller_insert_timer(reactor, poller, now);
 				}
+				took_action = true;
 			}
-			timer_poll_count = 0;
-		} else {
-			timer_poll_count++;
 		}
 
 		if (took_action) {
@@ -536,8 +528,6 @@ _spdk_reactor_run(void *arg)
 					usleep(sleep_us);
 				}
 
-				/* After sleeping, always poll for timers */
-				timer_poll_count = SPDK_TIMER_POLL_ITERATIONS;
 			}
 		}