diff --git a/include/spdk/thread.h b/include/spdk/thread.h
index 0158a35d3..eb54db7bb 100644
--- a/include/spdk/thread.h
+++ b/include/spdk/thread.h
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ void spdk_thread_lib_fini(void);
  *
  * \return a pointer to the allocated thread on success or NULL on failure..
  */
-struct spdk_thread *spdk_thread_create(const char *name, struct spdk_cpuset *cpumask);
+struct spdk_thread *spdk_thread_create(const char *name, const struct spdk_cpuset *cpumask);
 
 /**
  * Force the current system thread to act as if executing the given SPDK thread.
diff --git a/lib/thread/thread.c b/lib/thread/thread.c
index 5d26a3ab0..9e4897763 100644
--- a/lib/thread/thread.c
+++ b/lib/thread/thread.c
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ _free_thread(struct spdk_thread *thread)
 }
 
 struct spdk_thread *
-spdk_thread_create(const char *name, struct spdk_cpuset *cpumask)
+spdk_thread_create(const char *name, const struct spdk_cpuset *cpumask)
 {
 	struct spdk_thread *thread;
 	struct spdk_msg *msgs[SPDK_MSG_MEMPOOL_CACHE_SIZE];