diff --git a/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c b/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 0723306cb..23339979e
--- a/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c
@@ -151,6 +151,23 @@ _pt_complete_io(struct spdk_bdev_io *bdev_io, bool success, void *cb_arg)
 	spdk_bdev_free_io(bdev_io);
 }
 
+/* Callback for getting a buf from the bdev pool in the event that the caller passed
+ * in NULL, we need to own the buffer so it doesn't get freed by another vbdev module
+ * beneath us before we're done with it. That won't happen in this example but it could
+ * if this example were used as a template for something more complex.
+ */
+static void
+pt_read_get_buf_cb(struct spdk_io_channel *ch, struct spdk_bdev_io *bdev_io)
+{
+	struct vbdev_passthru *pt_node = SPDK_CONTAINEROF(bdev_io->bdev, struct vbdev_passthru,
+					 pt_bdev);
+	struct pt_io_channel *pt_ch = spdk_io_channel_get_ctx(ch);
+
+	spdk_bdev_readv_blocks(pt_node->base_desc, pt_ch->base_ch, bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs,
+			       bdev_io->u.bdev.iovcnt, bdev_io->u.bdev.offset_blocks,
+			       bdev_io->u.bdev.num_blocks, _pt_complete_io,
+			       bdev_io);
+}
 
 /* Called when someone above submits IO to this pt vbdev. We're simply passing it on here
  * via SPDK IO calls which in turn allocate another bdev IO and call our cpl callback provided
@@ -162,7 +179,7 @@ vbdev_passthru_submit_request(struct spdk_io_channel *ch, struct spdk_bdev_io *b
 	struct vbdev_passthru *pt_node = SPDK_CONTAINEROF(bdev_io->bdev, struct vbdev_passthru, pt_bdev);
 	struct pt_io_channel *pt_ch = spdk_io_channel_get_ctx(ch);
 	struct passthru_bdev_io *io_ctx = (struct passthru_bdev_io *)bdev_io->driver_ctx;
-	int rc = 1;
+	int rc = 0;
 
 	/* Setup a per IO context value; we don't do anything with it in the vbdev other
 	 * than confirm we get the same thing back in the completion callback just to
@@ -172,10 +189,8 @@ vbdev_passthru_submit_request(struct spdk_io_channel *ch, struct spdk_bdev_io *b
 
 	switch (bdev_io->type) {
 	case SPDK_BDEV_IO_TYPE_READ:
-		rc = spdk_bdev_readv_blocks(pt_node->base_desc, pt_ch->base_ch, bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs,
-					    bdev_io->u.bdev.iovcnt, bdev_io->u.bdev.offset_blocks,
-					    bdev_io->u.bdev.num_blocks, _pt_complete_io,
-					    bdev_io);
+		spdk_bdev_io_get_buf(bdev_io, pt_read_get_buf_cb,
+				     bdev_io->u.bdev.num_blocks * bdev_io->bdev->blocklen);
 		break;
 	case SPDK_BDEV_IO_TYPE_WRITE:
 		rc = spdk_bdev_writev_blocks(pt_node->base_desc, pt_ch->base_ch, bdev_io->u.bdev.iovs,