diff --git a/test/nvmf/common.sh b/test/nvmf/common.sh
index 252681850..db7113a80 100644
--- a/test/nvmf/common.sh
+++ b/test/nvmf/common.sh
@@ -507,19 +507,13 @@ function nvme_connect() {
 }
 
 function get_nvme_devs() {
-	local dev rest
+	local dev _
 
-	nvmes=()
-	while read -r dev rest; do
+	while read -r dev _; do
 		if [[ $dev == /dev/nvme* ]]; then
-			nvmes+=("$dev")
-		fi
-		if [[ $1 == print ]]; then
-			echo "$dev $rest"
+			echo "$dev"
 		fi
 	done < <(nvme list)
-	((${#nvmes[@]})) || return 1
-	echo "${#nvmes[@]}" >&2
 }
 
 function gen_nvmf_target_json() {
diff --git a/test/nvmf/target/nvme_cli.sh b/test/nvmf/target/nvme_cli.sh
index ab0b13b08..9c6559e12 100755
--- a/test/nvmf/target/nvme_cli.sh
+++ b/test/nvmf/target/nvme_cli.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ MALLOC_BDEV_SIZE=64
 MALLOC_BLOCK_SIZE=512
 
 rpc_py="$rootdir/scripts/rpc.py"
+devs=()
 
 nvmftestinit
 nvmfappstart -m 0xF
@@ -29,11 +30,11 @@ $rpc_py nvmf_subsystem_add_ns nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:cnode1 Malloc1
 $rpc_py nvmf_subsystem_add_listener nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:cnode1 -t $TEST_TRANSPORT -a $NVMF_FIRST_TARGET_IP -s $NVMF_PORT
 
 nvme discover -t $TEST_TRANSPORT -a $NVMF_FIRST_TARGET_IP -s "$NVMF_PORT"
-nvme_num_before_connection=$(get_nvme_devs 2>&1 || echo 0)
+devs=($(get_nvme_devs)) nvme_num_before_connection=${#devs[@]}
 nvme connect -t $TEST_TRANSPORT -n "nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:cnode1" -a "$NVMF_FIRST_TARGET_IP" -s "$NVMF_PORT"
 
 waitforserial $NVMF_SERIAL 2
-if ! get_nvme_devs print 2> /dev/null; then
+if [[ -z $(get_nvme_devs) ]]; then
 	echo "Could not find any nvme devices to work with, aborting the test" >&2
 	exit 1
 fi
@@ -57,9 +58,9 @@ for ns in "${nvmes[@]}"; do
 	nvme id-ns $ns
 done
 
-nvme_num=$(get_nvme_devs 2>&1)
+devs=($(get_nvme_devs)) nvme_num=${#devs[@]}
 nvme disconnect -n "nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:cnode1"
-if [ $nvme_num -le $nvme_num_before_connection ]; then
+if ((nvme_num <= nvme_num_before_connection)); then
 	echo "nvme-cli connect target devices failed"
 	exit 1
 fi