diff --git a/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c b/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c
index 23e1a2100..2e91a5445 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/hello_world/hello_world.c
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ register_ns(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct spdk_nvme_ns *ns)
 struct hello_world_sequence {
 	struct ns_entry	*ns_entry;
 	char		*buf;
+	unsigned        using_cmb_io;
 	int		is_completed;
 };
 
@@ -124,7 +125,11 @@ write_complete(void *arg, const struct spdk_nvme_cpl *completion)
 	 *  the write I/O and allocate a new zeroed buffer for reading
 	 *  the data back from the NVMe namespace.
 	 */
-	spdk_dma_free(sequence->buf);
+	if (sequence->using_cmb_io) {
+		spdk_nvme_ctrlr_free_cmb_io_buffer(ns_entry->ctrlr, sequence->buf, 0x1000);
+	} else {
+		spdk_dma_free(sequence->buf);
+	}
 	sequence->buf = spdk_dma_zmalloc(0x1000, 0x1000, NULL);
 
 	rc = spdk_nvme_ns_cmd_read(ns_entry->ns, ns_entry->qpair, sequence->buf,
@@ -169,7 +174,21 @@ hello_world(void)
 		 * will be pinned, which is required for data buffers used for SPDK NVMe
 		 * I/O operations.
 		 */
-		sequence.buf = spdk_dma_zmalloc(0x1000, 0x1000, NULL);
+		sequence.using_cmb_io = 1;
+		sequence.buf = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_alloc_cmb_io_buffer(ns_entry->ctrlr, 0x1000);
+		if (sequence.buf == NULL) {
+			sequence.using_cmb_io = 0;
+			sequence.buf = spdk_dma_zmalloc(0x1000, 0x1000, NULL);
+		}
+		if (sequence.buf == NULL) {
+			printf("ERROR: write buffer allocation failed\n");
+			return;
+		}
+		if (sequence.using_cmb_io) {
+			printf("INFO: using controller memory buffer for IO\n");
+		} else {
+			printf("INFO: using host memory buffer for IO\n");
+		}
 		sequence.is_completed = 0;
 		sequence.ns_entry = ns_entry;