diff --git a/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h b/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h
index fc63f7575..90d8d183f 100644
--- a/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h
+++ b/include/spdk/nvmf_transport.h
@@ -160,6 +160,8 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_poll_group {
 
 	spdk_nvmf_poll_group_destroy_done_fn		destroy_cb_fn;
 	void						*destroy_cb_arg;
+
+	TAILQ_ENTRY(spdk_nvmf_poll_group)		link;
 };
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_listener {
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
index 01ba5eac9..e2f6afcfb 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ nvmf_tgt_create_poll_group(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 		}
 	}
 
+	pthread_mutex_lock(&tgt->mutex);
+	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&tgt->poll_groups, group, link);
+	pthread_mutex_unlock(&tgt->mutex);
+
 	group->poller = SPDK_POLLER_REGISTER(nvmf_poll_group_poll, group, 0);
 	group->thread = spdk_get_thread();
 
@@ -151,11 +155,16 @@ nvmf_tgt_create_poll_group(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 static void
 nvmf_tgt_destroy_poll_group(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 {
+	struct spdk_nvmf_tgt *tgt = io_device;
 	struct spdk_nvmf_poll_group *group = ctx_buf;
 	struct spdk_nvmf_transport_poll_group *tgroup, *tmp;
 	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem_poll_group *sgroup;
 	uint32_t sid, nsid;
 
+	pthread_mutex_lock(&tgt->mutex);
+	TAILQ_REMOVE(&tgt->poll_groups, group, link);
+	pthread_mutex_unlock(&tgt->mutex);
+
 	TAILQ_FOREACH_SAFE(tgroup, &group->tgroups, link, tmp) {
 		TAILQ_REMOVE(&group->tgroups, tgroup, link);
 		nvmf_transport_poll_group_destroy(tgroup);
@@ -254,6 +263,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_tgt_create(struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts *opts)
 
 	tgt->discovery_genctr = 0;
 	TAILQ_INIT(&tgt->transports);
+	TAILQ_INIT(&tgt->poll_groups);
 
 	tgt->subsystems = calloc(tgt->max_subsystems, sizeof(struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem *));
 	if (!tgt->subsystems) {
@@ -261,6 +271,8 @@ spdk_nvmf_tgt_create(struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts *opts)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
+	pthread_mutex_init(&tgt->mutex, NULL);
+
 	TAILQ_INSERT_HEAD(&g_nvmf_tgts, tgt, link);
 
 	spdk_io_device_register(tgt,
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
index 0a775e17e..cf2495372 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ enum spdk_nvmf_subsystem_state {
 struct spdk_nvmf_tgt {
 	char					name[NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH];
 
+	pthread_mutex_t				mutex;
+
 	uint64_t				discovery_genctr;
 
 	uint32_t				max_subsystems;
@@ -70,6 +72,7 @@ struct spdk_nvmf_tgt {
 	struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem		**subsystems;
 
 	TAILQ_HEAD(, spdk_nvmf_transport)	transports;
+	TAILQ_HEAD(, spdk_nvmf_poll_group)	poll_groups;
 
 	spdk_nvmf_tgt_destroy_done_fn		*destroy_cb_fn;
 	void					*destroy_cb_arg;