diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a8263e773..3a817d356 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ vfio-pci driver should trigger one "remove" uevent at the very beginning of the
 of pci driver, this will make sure the SPDK could detect the event and release the vfio-attached
 device Fd and related resource when the device removed.
 
+### NVMe-oF Target
+
+Subsystems are no longer tied explicitly to CPU cores. Instead, connections are handed out to the available
+cores round-robin. The "Core" option in the configuration file has been removed.
+
 ### Blobstore
 
 A number of functions have been renamed:
diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c b/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c
index e328e16db..ca5661a06 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/conf.c
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 #define ACCEPT_TIMEOUT_US		10000 /* 10ms */
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_probe_ctx {
-	struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem	*app_subsystem;
+	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem	*subsystem;
 	bool				any;
 	bool				found;
 	struct spdk_nvme_transport_id	trid;
@@ -61,71 +61,19 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_probe_ctx {
 #define MAX_STRING_LEN 255
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf;
-static int32_t g_last_core = -1;
-
-static int
-spdk_get_numa_node_value(const char *path)
-{
-	FILE *fd;
-	int numa_node = -1;
-	char buf[MAX_STRING_LEN];
-
-	fd = fopen(path, "r");
-	if (!fd) {
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	if (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), fd) != NULL) {
-		numa_node = strtoul(buf, NULL, 10);
-	}
-	fclose(fd);
-
-	return numa_node;
-}
-
-static int
-spdk_get_ifaddr_numa_node(const char *if_addr)
-{
-	int ret;
-	struct ifaddrs *ifaddrs, *ifa;
-	struct sockaddr_in addr, addr_in;
-	char path[MAX_STRING_LEN];
-	int numa_node = -1;
-
-	addr_in.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(if_addr);
-
-	ret = getifaddrs(&ifaddrs);
-	if (ret < 0) {
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	for (ifa = ifaddrs; ifa != NULL; ifa = ifa->ifa_next) {
-		addr = *(struct sockaddr_in *)ifa->ifa_addr;
-		if ((uint32_t)addr_in.sin_addr.s_addr != (uint32_t)addr.sin_addr.s_addr) {
-			continue;
-		}
-		snprintf(path, MAX_STRING_LEN, "/sys/class/net/%s/device/numa_node", ifa->ifa_name);
-		numa_node = spdk_get_numa_node_value(path);
-		break;
-	}
-	freeifaddrs(ifaddrs);
-
-	return numa_node;
-}
 
 static int
 spdk_add_nvmf_discovery_subsystem(void)
 {
-	struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *app_subsys;
+	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem;
 
-	app_subsys = nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(SPDK_NVMF_DISCOVERY_NQN, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_DISCOVERY, 0,
-					       spdk_env_get_current_core());
-	if (app_subsys == NULL) {
+	subsystem = nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(SPDK_NVMF_DISCOVERY_NQN, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_DISCOVERY, 0);
+	if (subsystem == NULL) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed creating discovery nvmf library subsystem\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	spdk_nvmf_subsystem_set_allow_any_host(app_subsys->subsystem, true);
+	spdk_nvmf_subsystem_set_allow_any_host(subsystem, true);
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -196,27 +144,6 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_nvmf_tgt(void)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int
-spdk_nvmf_allocate_lcore(uint64_t mask, uint32_t lcore)
-{
-	uint32_t end;
-
-	if (lcore == 0) {
-		end = 0;
-	} else {
-		end = lcore - 1;
-	}
-
-	do {
-		if (((mask >> lcore) & 1U) == 1U) {
-			break;
-		}
-		lcore = (lcore + 1) % 64;
-	} while (lcore != end);
-
-	return lcore;
-}
-
 static int
 spdk_nvmf_parse_subsystem(struct spdk_conf_section *sp)
 {
@@ -253,6 +180,15 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_subsystem(struct spdk_conf_section *sp)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* Core is no longer a valid parameter, but print out a nice
+	 * message if it exists to inform users.
+	 */
+	if (lcore >= 0) {
+		SPDK_NOTICELOG("Core present in the [Subsystem] section of the config file.\n"
+			       "Core was removed as an option. Subsystems can now run on all available cores.\n");
+		SPDK_NOTICELOG("Please remove Core from your configuration file. Ignoring it and continuing.\n");
+	}
+
 	/* Parse Listen sections */
 	num_listen_addrs = 0;
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_LISTEN_ADDRESSES; i++) {
@@ -322,7 +258,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_subsystem(struct spdk_conf_section *sp)
 		num_ns++;
 	}
 
-	ret = spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(nqn, lcore,
+	ret = spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(nqn,
 					    num_listen_addrs, listen_addrs,
 					    num_hosts, hosts, allow_any_host,
 					    sn,
@@ -375,16 +311,14 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_conf(void)
 }
 
 int
-spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(const char *name, int32_t lcore,
+spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(const char *name,
 			      int num_listen_addresses, struct rpc_listen_address *addresses,
 			      int num_hosts, char *hosts[], bool allow_any_host,
 			      const char *sn, size_t num_ns, struct spdk_nvmf_ns_params *ns_list)
 {
 	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem;
-	struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *app_subsys;
 	int i, rc;
 	size_t j;
-	uint64_t mask;
 	struct spdk_bdev *bdev;
 
 	if (name == NULL) {
@@ -402,40 +336,16 @@ spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(const char *name, int32_t lcore,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (lcore < 0) {
-		lcore = ++g_last_core;
-	}
-
-	/* Determine which core to assign to the subsystem */
-	mask = spdk_app_get_core_mask();
-	lcore = spdk_nvmf_allocate_lcore(mask, lcore);
-	g_last_core = lcore;
-
-	app_subsys = nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(name, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_NVME, num_ns, lcore);
-	if (app_subsys == NULL) {
+	subsystem = nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(name, SPDK_NVMF_SUBTYPE_NVME, num_ns);
+	if (subsystem == NULL) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Subsystem creation failed\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
-	subsystem = app_subsys->subsystem;
 
 	/* Parse Listen sections */
 	for (i = 0; i < num_listen_addresses; i++) {
-		int nic_numa_node = spdk_get_ifaddr_numa_node(addresses[i].traddr);
-		unsigned subsys_numa_node = spdk_env_get_socket_id(app_subsys->lcore);
 		struct spdk_nvme_transport_id trid = {};
 
-		if (nic_numa_node >= 0) {
-			if (subsys_numa_node != (unsigned)nic_numa_node) {
-				SPDK_WARNLOG("Subsystem %s is configured to run on a CPU core %d belonging "
-					     "to a different NUMA node than the associated NIC. "
-					     "This may result in reduced performance.\n",
-					     name, lcore);
-				SPDK_WARNLOG("The NIC is on socket %d\n", nic_numa_node);
-				SPDK_WARNLOG("The Subsystem is on socket %u\n",
-					     subsys_numa_node);
-			}
-		}
-
 		if (spdk_nvme_transport_id_parse_trtype(&trid.trtype, addresses[i].transport)) {
 			SPDK_ERRLOG("Missing listen address transport type\n");
 			goto error;
@@ -502,7 +412,6 @@ spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(const char *name, int32_t lcore,
 	return 0;
 
 error:
-	spdk_nvmf_delete_subsystem(app_subsys->subsystem);
-	app_subsys->subsystem = NULL;
+	spdk_nvmf_delete_subsystem(subsystem);
 	return -1;
 }
diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_rpc.c b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_rpc.c
index 10df78629..3d70ba74f 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_rpc.c
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_rpc.c
@@ -44,17 +44,13 @@
 #include "nvmf_tgt.h"
 
 static void
-dump_nvmf_subsystem(struct spdk_json_write_ctx *w, struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *tgt_subsystem)
+dump_nvmf_subsystem(struct spdk_json_write_ctx *w, struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem)
 {
 	struct spdk_nvmf_host		*host;
-	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem	*subsystem = tgt_subsystem->subsystem;
 	struct spdk_nvmf_listener 	*listener;
 
 	spdk_json_write_object_begin(w);
 
-	spdk_json_write_name(w, "core");
-	spdk_json_write_int32(w, tgt_subsystem->lcore);
-
 	spdk_json_write_name(w, "nqn");
 	spdk_json_write_string(w, spdk_nvmf_subsystem_get_nqn(subsystem));
 	spdk_json_write_name(w, "subtype");
@@ -143,7 +139,7 @@ spdk_rpc_get_nvmf_subsystems(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 			     const struct spdk_json_val *params)
 {
 	struct spdk_json_write_ctx *w;
-	struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem	*tgt_subsystem;
+	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem;
 
 	if (params != NULL) {
 		spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response(request, SPDK_JSONRPC_ERROR_INVALID_PARAMS,
@@ -157,10 +153,10 @@ spdk_rpc_get_nvmf_subsystems(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 	}
 
 	spdk_json_write_array_begin(w);
-	tgt_subsystem = nvmf_tgt_subsystem_first();
-	while (tgt_subsystem) {
-		dump_nvmf_subsystem(w, tgt_subsystem);
-		tgt_subsystem = nvmf_tgt_subsystem_next(tgt_subsystem);
+	subsystem = spdk_nvmf_subsystem_get_first(g_tgt.tgt);
+	while (subsystem) {
+		dump_nvmf_subsystem(w, subsystem);
+		subsystem = spdk_nvmf_subsystem_get_next(subsystem);
 	}
 	spdk_json_write_array_end(w);
 	spdk_jsonrpc_end_result(request, w);
@@ -379,7 +375,16 @@ spdk_rpc_construct_nvmf_subsystem(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 		}
 	}
 
-	ret = spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(req.nqn, req.core,
+	/* Core is no longer a valid parameter, but print out a nice
+	 * message if it exists to inform users.
+	 */
+	if (req.core != -1) {
+		SPDK_NOTICELOG("Core present in the construct NVMe-oF subsystem RPC.\n"
+			       "Core was removed as an option. Subsystems can now run on all available cores.\n");
+		SPDK_NOTICELOG("Ignoring it and continuing.\n");
+	}
+
+	ret = spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(req.nqn,
 					    req.listen_addresses.num_listen_address,
 					    req.listen_addresses.addresses,
 					    req.hosts.num_hosts, req.hosts.hosts, req.allow_any_host,
diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
index 02015fded..c95b08ece 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.c
@@ -54,20 +54,8 @@ static size_t g_active_poll_groups = 0;
 
 static struct spdk_poller *g_acceptor_poller = NULL;
 
-static TAILQ_HEAD(, nvmf_tgt_subsystem) g_subsystems = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(g_subsystems);
-
 static void nvmf_tgt_advance_state(void *arg1, void *arg2);
 
-static void
-nvmf_tgt_delete_subsystem(struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *app_subsys)
-{
-	TAILQ_REMOVE(&g_subsystems, app_subsys, tailq);
-
-	spdk_nvmf_delete_subsystem(app_subsys->subsystem);
-
-	free(app_subsys);
-}
-
 static void
 spdk_nvmf_shutdown_cb(void)
 {
@@ -79,66 +67,40 @@ spdk_nvmf_shutdown_cb(void)
 	nvmf_tgt_advance_state(NULL, NULL);
 }
 
-struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *
-nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(const char *name, enum spdk_nvmf_subtype subtype, uint32_t num_ns,
-			  uint32_t lcore)
+struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *
+nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(const char *name, enum spdk_nvmf_subtype subtype, uint32_t num_ns)
 {
 	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem;
-	struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *app_subsys;
 
 	if (spdk_nvmf_tgt_find_subsystem(g_tgt.tgt, name)) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Subsystem already exist\n");
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	app_subsys = calloc(1, sizeof(*app_subsys));
-	if (app_subsys == NULL) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Subsystem allocation failed\n");
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
 	subsystem = spdk_nvmf_create_subsystem(g_tgt.tgt, name, subtype, num_ns);
 	if (subsystem == NULL) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Subsystem creation failed\n");
-		free(app_subsys);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	app_subsys->subsystem = subsystem;
-	app_subsys->lcore = lcore;
+	SPDK_NOTICELOG("allocated subsystem %s\n", name);
 
-	SPDK_NOTICELOG("allocated subsystem %s on lcore %u on socket %u\n", name, lcore,
-		       spdk_env_get_socket_id(lcore));
-
-	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&g_subsystems, app_subsys, tailq);
-
-	return app_subsys;
-}
-
-struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *
-nvmf_tgt_subsystem_first(void)
-{
-	return TAILQ_FIRST(&g_subsystems);
-}
-
-struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *
-nvmf_tgt_subsystem_next(struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *subsystem)
-{
-	return TAILQ_NEXT(subsystem, tailq);
+	return subsystem;
 }
 
 int
 nvmf_tgt_shutdown_subsystem_by_nqn(const char *nqn)
 {
-	struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *tgt_subsystem, *subsys_tmp;
+	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem;
 
-	TAILQ_FOREACH_SAFE(tgt_subsystem, &g_subsystems, tailq, subsys_tmp) {
-		if (strcmp(spdk_nvmf_subsystem_get_nqn(tgt_subsystem->subsystem), nqn) == 0) {
-			nvmf_tgt_delete_subsystem(tgt_subsystem);
-			return 0;
-		}
+	subsystem = spdk_nvmf_tgt_find_subsystem(g_tgt.tgt, nqn);
+	if (!subsystem) {
+		return -EINVAL;
 	}
-	return -1;
+
+	spdk_nvmf_delete_subsystem(subsystem);
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -181,7 +143,7 @@ acceptor_poll(void *arg)
 static void
 nvmf_tgt_destroy_poll_group_done(void *ctx)
 {
-	g_tgt.state = NVMF_TGT_FINI_SHUTDOWN_SUBSYSTEMS;
+	g_tgt.state = NVMF_TGT_FINI_FREE_RESOURCES;
 	nvmf_tgt_advance_state(NULL, NULL);
 }
 
@@ -292,15 +254,6 @@ nvmf_tgt_advance_state(void *arg1, void *arg2)
 					     NULL,
 					     nvmf_tgt_destroy_poll_group_done);
 			break;
-		case NVMF_TGT_FINI_SHUTDOWN_SUBSYSTEMS: {
-			struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *app_subsys, *tmp;
-
-			TAILQ_FOREACH_SAFE(app_subsys, &g_subsystems, tailq, tmp) {
-				nvmf_tgt_delete_subsystem(app_subsys);
-			}
-			g_tgt.state = NVMF_TGT_FINI_FREE_RESOURCES;
-			break;
-		}
 		case NVMF_TGT_FINI_FREE_RESOURCES:
 			spdk_nvmf_tgt_destroy(g_tgt.tgt);
 			g_tgt.state = NVMF_TGT_STOPPED;
diff --git a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.h b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.h
index 595e25167..358191966 100644
--- a/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.h
+++ b/app/nvmf_tgt/nvmf_tgt.h
@@ -51,14 +51,6 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf {
 	uint32_t acceptor_poll_rate;
 };
 
-struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem {
-	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *subsystem;
-
-	TAILQ_ENTRY(nvmf_tgt_subsystem) tailq;
-
-	uint32_t lcore;
-};
-
 enum nvmf_tgt_state {
 	NVMF_TGT_INIT_NONE = 0,
 	NVMF_TGT_INIT_PARSE_CONFIG,
@@ -67,7 +59,6 @@ enum nvmf_tgt_state {
 	NVMF_TGT_RUNNING,
 	NVMF_TGT_FINI_STOP_ACCEPTOR,
 	NVMF_TGT_FINI_DESTROY_POLL_GROUPS,
-	NVMF_TGT_FINI_SHUTDOWN_SUBSYSTEMS,
 	NVMF_TGT_FINI_FREE_RESOURCES,
 	NVMF_TGT_STOPPED,
 	NVMF_TGT_ERROR,
@@ -85,17 +76,10 @@ extern struct spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_conf;
 
 extern struct nvmf_tgt g_tgt;
 
-struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *
-nvmf_tgt_subsystem_first(void);
-
-struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *
-nvmf_tgt_subsystem_next(struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *subsystem);
-
 int spdk_nvmf_parse_conf(void);
 
-struct nvmf_tgt_subsystem *nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(const char *name,
-		enum spdk_nvmf_subtype subtype, uint32_t num_ns,
-		uint32_t lcore);
+struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *nvmf_tgt_create_subsystem(const char *name,
+		enum spdk_nvmf_subtype subtype, uint32_t num_ns);
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_ns_params {
 	char *bdev_name;
@@ -104,7 +88,6 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_ns_params {
 
 int
 spdk_nvmf_construct_subsystem(const char *name,
-			      int32_t lcore,
 			      int num_listen_addresses, struct rpc_listen_address *addresses,
 			      int num_hosts, char *hosts[], bool allow_any_host,
 			      const char *sn, size_t num_ns, struct spdk_nvmf_ns_params *ns_list);
diff --git a/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in b/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
index 1b2068b0e..965a25832 100644
--- a/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
+++ b/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@
 # Namespaces backed by physical NVMe devices
 [Subsystem1]
   NQN nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:cnode1
-  Core 0
   Listen RDMA 15.15.15.2:4420
   AllowAnyHost No
   Host nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:init
@@ -141,7 +140,6 @@
 # Namespaces backed by non-NVMe devices
 [Subsystem2]
   NQN nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:cnode2
-  Core 0
   Listen RDMA 192.168.2.21:4420
   AllowAnyHost No
   Host nqn.2016-06.io.spdk:init
diff --git a/scripts/rpc.py b/scripts/rpc.py
index fbdee24fc..21678d15f 100755
--- a/scripts/rpc.py
+++ b/scripts/rpc.py
@@ -651,7 +651,6 @@ def construct_nvmf_subsystem(args):
     listen_addresses = [dict(u.split(":") for u in a.split(" ")) for a in args.listen.split(",")]
 
     params = {
-        'core': args.core,
         'nqn': args.nqn,
         'listen_addresses': listen_addresses,
         'serial_number': args.serial_number,
@@ -686,7 +685,6 @@ def construct_nvmf_subsystem(args):
     jsonrpc_call('construct_nvmf_subsystem', params)
 
 p = subparsers.add_parser('construct_nvmf_subsystem', help='Add a nvmf subsystem')
-p.add_argument("-c", "--core", help='The core Nvmf target run on', type=int, default=-1)
 p.add_argument('nqn', help='Target nqn(ASCII)')
 p.add_argument('listen', help="""comma-separated list of Listen <trtype:transport_name traddr:address trsvcid:port_id> pairs enclosed
 in quotes.  Format:  'trtype:transport0 traddr:traddr0 trsvcid:trsvcid0,trtype:transport1 traddr:traddr1 trsvcid:trsvcid1' etc