diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c b/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c
index c96c79cd4..4957fbfbc 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_probe_ctx {
 #define SPDK_NVMF_CONFIG_MAX_IO_SIZE_MIN 4096
 #define SPDK_NVMF_CONFIG_MAX_IO_SIZE_MAX 131072
 
+struct spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf;
+
 static int
 spdk_add_nvmf_discovery_subsystem(void)
 {
@@ -146,9 +148,9 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_nvmf_tgt(void)
 	if (acceptor_lcore < 0) {
 		acceptor_lcore = rte_lcore_id();
 	}
+	g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf.acceptor_lcore = acceptor_lcore;
 
-	rc = nvmf_tgt_init(max_queue_depth, max_queues_per_sess, in_capsule_data_size, max_io_size,
-			   acceptor_lcore);
+	rc = nvmf_tgt_init(max_queue_depth, max_queues_per_sess, in_capsule_data_size, max_io_size);
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("nvmf_tgt_init() failed\n");
 		return rc;
diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.h b/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.h
index 712230c68..0d5016e8d 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.h
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.h
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@
 #ifndef NVMF_CONF_H
 #define NVMF_CONF_H
 
+struct spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf {
+	uint32_t acceptor_lcore;
+};
+
+extern struct spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf;
+
 int
 spdk_nvmf_parse_conf(void);
 
diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
index ff3f276fb..73e214ad1 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
@@ -56,15 +56,30 @@ 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"
 
+#define ACCEPT_TIMEOUT_US		1000 /* 1ms */
+
+static struct spdk_poller *g_acceptor_poller = NULL;
+
+static void
+acceptor_poller_unregistered_event(struct spdk_event *event)
+{
+	spdk_nvmf_acceptor_fini();
+
+	spdk_app_stop(0);
+}
+
 static void
 spdk_nvmf_shutdown_cb(void)
 {
-	spdk_nvmf_acceptor_stop();
-	spdk_app_stop(0);
+	struct spdk_event *event;
 
 	fprintf(stdout, "\n=========================\n");
 	fprintf(stdout, "   NVMF shutdown signal\n");
 	fprintf(stdout, "=========================\n");
+
+	event = spdk_event_allocate(spdk_app_get_current_core(), acceptor_poller_unregistered_event,
+				    NULL, NULL, NULL);
+	spdk_poller_unregister(&g_acceptor_poller, event);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -92,6 +107,12 @@ usage(void)
 	printf(" -d         - disable coredump file enabling\n");
 }
 
+static void
+acceptor_poll(void *arg)
+{
+	spdk_nvmf_acceptor_poll();
+}
+
 static void
 spdk_nvmf_startup(spdk_event_t event)
 {
@@ -109,14 +130,17 @@ spdk_nvmf_startup(spdk_event_t event)
 		goto initialize_error;
 	}
 
-	/* start the rdma poller that will listen
-	   on all available ports */
-	rc = spdk_nvmf_acceptor_start();
+	rc = spdk_nvmf_acceptor_init();
 	if (rc < 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("spdk_nvmf_acceptor_start() failed\n");
 		goto initialize_error;
 	}
 
+	spdk_poller_register(&g_acceptor_poller, acceptor_poll, NULL,
+			     g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf.acceptor_lcore, NULL, ACCEPT_TIMEOUT_US);
+
+	SPDK_NOTICELOG("Acceptor running on core %u\n", g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf.acceptor_lcore);
+
 	if (getenv("MEMZONE_DUMP") != NULL) {
 		rte_memzone_dump(stdout);
 		fflush(stdout);
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
index 91a03b935..7081d9516 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
@@ -116,8 +116,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_check_pools(void)
 
 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,
-	      uint32_t acceptor_lcore)
+	      uint32_t in_capsule_data_size, uint32_t max_io_size)
 {
 	int rc;
 
@@ -125,13 +124,11 @@ nvmf_tgt_init(uint16_t max_queue_depth, uint16_t max_queues_per_sess,
 	g_nvmf_tgt.max_queue_depth = max_queue_depth;
 	g_nvmf_tgt.in_capsule_data_size = in_capsule_data_size;
 	g_nvmf_tgt.max_io_size = max_io_size;
-	g_nvmf_tgt.acceptor_lcore = acceptor_lcore;
 
 	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_NVMF, "Max Queues Per Session: %d\n", max_queues_per_sess);
 	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_NVMF, "Max Queue Depth: %d\n", max_queue_depth);
 	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);
-	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_NVMF, "NVMf Acceptor lcore: %d \n", acceptor_lcore);
 
 	/* init nvmf specific config options */
 	if (!g_nvmf_tgt.sin_port) {
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
index b9d11c193..8a4c95aef 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
@@ -69,14 +69,11 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_globals {
 	uint32_t in_capsule_data_size;
 	uint32_t max_io_size;
 
-	uint32_t acceptor_lcore;
-
 	uint16_t	   sin_port;
 };
 
 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,
-		  uint32_t acceptor_lcore);
+		  uint32_t in_capsule_data_size, uint32_t max_io_size);
 
 static inline uint32_t
 nvmf_u32log2(uint32_t x)
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/rdma.c b/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
index 49405c633..1009f32ae 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/rdma.c
@@ -52,13 +52,10 @@
 #include "subsystem.h"
 #include "transport.h"
 #include "spdk/assert.h"
-#include "spdk/event.h"
 #include "spdk/log.h"
 #include "spdk/nvmf_spec.h"
 #include "spdk/trace.h"
 
-#define ACCEPT_TIMEOUT_US		1000 /* 1ms */
-
 /*
  RDMA Connection Resouce Defaults
  */
@@ -140,7 +137,6 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_rdma_session {
 };
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_rdma {
-	struct spdk_poller		*acceptor_poller;
 	struct rdma_event_channel	*acceptor_event_channel;
 	struct rdma_cm_id		*acceptor_listen_id;
 
@@ -911,7 +907,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_request_prep_data(struct spdk_nvmf_request *req)
 static int spdk_nvmf_rdma_poll(struct spdk_nvmf_conn *conn);
 
 static void
-nvmf_rdma_accept(void *arg)
+spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_poll(void)
 {
 	struct rdma_cm_event		*event;
 	int				rc;
@@ -976,7 +972,7 @@ nvmf_rdma_accept(void *arg)
 }
 
 static int
-spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_start(void)
+spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_init(void)
 {
 	struct sockaddr_in	addr;
 	uint16_t		sin_port;
@@ -1023,8 +1019,6 @@ spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_start(void)
 	sin_port = ntohs(rdma_get_src_port(g_rdma.acceptor_listen_id));
 	SPDK_NOTICELOG("*** NVMf Target Listening on port %d ***\n", sin_port);
 
-	spdk_poller_register(&g_rdma.acceptor_poller, nvmf_rdma_accept, NULL, g_nvmf_tgt.acceptor_lcore,
-			     NULL, ACCEPT_TIMEOUT_US);
 	return rc;
 
 listen_error:
@@ -1035,10 +1029,8 @@ create_id_error:
 }
 
 static void
-spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_stop(void)
+spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_fini(void)
 {
-	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_RDMA, "nvmf_acceptor_stop: shutdown\n");
-	spdk_poller_unregister(&g_rdma.acceptor_poller, NULL);
 }
 
 static int
@@ -1457,8 +1449,10 @@ const struct spdk_nvmf_transport spdk_nvmf_transport_rdma = {
 	.name = "rdma",
 	.transport_init = spdk_nvmf_rdma_init,
 	.transport_fini = spdk_nvmf_rdma_fini,
-	.transport_start = spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_start,
-	.transport_stop = spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_stop,
+
+	.acceptor_init = spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_init,
+	.acceptor_poll = spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_poll,
+	.acceptor_fini = spdk_nvmf_rdma_acceptor_fini,
 
 	.session_init = spdk_nvmf_rdma_session_init,
 	.session_fini = spdk_nvmf_rdma_session_fini,
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/transport.c b/lib/nvmf/transport.c
index e33b552f4..e1e88e888 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/transport.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/transport.c
@@ -85,12 +85,12 @@ spdk_nvmf_transport_fini(void)
 }
 
 int
-spdk_nvmf_acceptor_start(void)
+spdk_nvmf_acceptor_init(void)
 {
 	size_t i;
 
 	for (i = 0; i != NUM_TRANSPORTS; i++) {
-		if (g_transports[i]->transport_start() < 0) {
+		if (g_transports[i]->acceptor_init() < 0) {
 			return -1;
 		}
 	}
@@ -99,12 +99,22 @@ spdk_nvmf_acceptor_start(void)
 }
 
 void
-spdk_nvmf_acceptor_stop(void)
+spdk_nvmf_acceptor_poll(void)
 {
 	size_t i;
 
 	for (i = 0; i != NUM_TRANSPORTS; i++) {
-		g_transports[i]->transport_stop();
+		g_transports[i]->acceptor_poll();
+	}
+}
+
+void
+spdk_nvmf_acceptor_fini(void)
+{
+	size_t i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i != NUM_TRANSPORTS; i++) {
+		g_transports[i]->acceptor_fini();
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/transport.h b/lib/nvmf/transport.h
index 2bc7a108d..48b082806 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/transport.h
+++ b/lib/nvmf/transport.h
@@ -63,12 +63,17 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_transport {
 	/**
 	 * Start accepting connections on the transport.
 	 */
-	int (*transport_start)(void);
+	int (*acceptor_init)(void);
+
+	/**
+	 * Check for new connections on the transport.
+	 */
+	void (*acceptor_poll)(void);
 
 	/**
 	 * Stop accepting connections on the transport.
 	 */
-	void (*transport_stop)(void);
+	void (*acceptor_fini)(void);
 
 	/**
 	 * Initialize the transport for the given session
@@ -115,8 +120,9 @@ int spdk_nvmf_transport_init(void);
 int spdk_nvmf_transport_fini(void);
 const struct spdk_nvmf_transport *spdk_nvmf_transport_get(const char *name);
 
-int spdk_nvmf_acceptor_start(void);
-void spdk_nvmf_acceptor_stop(void);
+int spdk_nvmf_acceptor_init(void);
+void spdk_nvmf_acceptor_poll(void);
+void spdk_nvmf_acceptor_fini(void);
 
 extern const struct spdk_nvmf_transport spdk_nvmf_transport_rdma;