diff --git a/lib/bdev/rbd/blockdev_rbd.c b/lib/bdev/rbd/blockdev_rbd.c
index 061be4a97..949c91215 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/rbd/blockdev_rbd.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/rbd/blockdev_rbd.c
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
+#include <poll.h>
+#include <sys/eventfd.h>
 #include <rbd/librbd.h>
 #include <rados/librados.h>
 
@@ -73,7 +75,6 @@ struct blockdev_rbd_io {
 	rbd_completion_t completion;
 	rbd_cb_fn_t cb_fn;
 	struct blockdev_rbd_io_channel *ch;
-	struct blockdev_rbd_io *next;
 };
 
 struct blockdev_rbd {
@@ -88,9 +89,10 @@ struct blockdev_rbd {
 struct blockdev_rbd_io_channel {
 	rados_ioctx_t io_ctx;
 	rados_t cluster;
+	struct pollfd pfd;
 	rbd_image_t image;
-	pthread_mutex_t lock;
-	struct blockdev_rbd_io *req_head;
+	rbd_completion_t *comps;
+	uint32_t queue_depth;
 	struct blockdev_rbd *disk;
 	struct spdk_poller *poller;
 };
@@ -175,37 +177,7 @@ blockdev_rbd_exit(rbd_image_t image)
 static void
 blockdev_rbd_finish_aiocb(rbd_completion_t cb, void *arg)
 {
-	struct blockdev_rbd_io *cmd = (struct blockdev_rbd_io *)arg;
-	int status;
-	struct blockdev_rbd_io_channel *ch = (struct blockdev_rbd_io_channel *)cmd->ch;
-	struct blockdev_rbd_io **req_head;
-
-	status = rbd_aio_get_return_value(cb);
-
-	if (cmd->direction == BLOCKDEV_RBD_READ) {
-		if ((int)cmd->len == status)
-			cmd->status = 0;
-		else
-			cmd->status = -1;
-	} else {
-		/* For write, 0 means success */
-		if (!status)
-			cmd->status = 0;
-		else
-			cmd->status = -1;
-	}
-	rbd_aio_release(cmd->completion);
-
-
-	/* We queue the IO to the disk list first and call the
-	 *  callback from polling thread, this will ensure
-	 *  all the IOs complete from the same lcore.
-	 */
-	pthread_mutex_lock(&ch->lock);
-	req_head = &ch->req_head;
-	cmd->next = *req_head;
-	*req_head = cmd;
-	pthread_mutex_unlock(&ch->lock);
+	/* Doing nothing here */
 }
 
 static int
@@ -346,23 +318,66 @@ static void
 blockdev_rbd_io_poll(void *arg)
 {
 	struct blockdev_rbd_io_channel *ch = arg;
-
-	struct blockdev_rbd_io **req_head = &ch->req_head;
 	struct blockdev_rbd_io *req;
-	struct blockdev_rbd_io  *req_next;
-	int status;
+	int i, io_status, status, rc;
 
-	pthread_mutex_lock(&ch->lock);
-	req = *req_head;
+	rc = poll(&ch->pfd, 1, 0);
 
-	*req_head = NULL;
-	while (req != NULL) {
-		req_next = req->next;
+	/* check the return value of poll since we have only one fd for each channel */
+	if (rc != 1) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	rc = rbd_poll_io_events(ch->image, ch->comps, ch->queue_depth);
+	for (i = 0; i < rc; i++) {
+		req = (struct blockdev_rbd_io *)rbd_aio_get_arg(ch->comps[i]);
+		io_status = rbd_aio_get_return_value(ch->comps[i]);
+		if (req->direction == BLOCKDEV_RBD_READ) {
+			if ((int)req->len == io_status) {
+				req->status = 0;
+			} else {
+				req->status = -1;
+			}
+		} else {
+			/* For others, 0 means success */
+			if (!io_status) {
+				req->status = 0;
+			} else {
+				req->status = -1;
+			}
+		}
 		status = req->status == 0 ? SPDK_BDEV_IO_STATUS_SUCCESS : SPDK_BDEV_IO_STATUS_FAILED;
 		spdk_bdev_io_complete(spdk_bdev_io_from_ctx(req), status);
-		req = req_next;
+		rbd_aio_release(req->completion);
+	}
+}
+
+static void
+blockdev_rbd_free_channel(struct blockdev_rbd_io_channel *ch)
+{
+	if (!ch) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (ch->image) {
+		blockdev_rbd_exit(ch->image);
+	}
+
+	if (ch->io_ctx) {
+		rados_ioctx_destroy(ch->io_ctx);
+	}
+
+	if (ch->cluster) {
+		rados_shutdown(ch->cluster);
+	}
+
+	if (ch->comps) {
+		free(ch->comps);
+	}
+
+	if (ch->pfd.fd >= 0) {
+		close(ch->pfd.fd);
 	}
-	pthread_mutex_unlock(&ch->lock);
 }
 
 static int
@@ -375,28 +390,51 @@ blockdev_rbd_create_cb(void *io_device, uint32_t priority,
 
 	ch->disk = (struct blockdev_rbd *)io_device;
 	pool_info = ch->disk->pool_info;
-	ch->req_head = NULL;
 	ch->image = NULL;
 	ch->io_ctx = NULL;
+	ch->pfd.fd = -1;
 
 	ret = blockdev_rados_context_init(pool_info->name, &ch->cluster, &ch->io_ctx);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to create rados context for rbd_pool=%s\n",
 			    pool_info->name);
-		return -1;
+		goto err;
 	}
 
 	ret = rbd_open(ch->io_ctx, ch->disk->rbd_name, &ch->image, NULL);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to open specified rbd device\n");
-		return -1;
+		goto err;
+	}
+
+	ch->pfd.fd = eventfd(0, EFD_NONBLOCK);
+	if (ch->pfd.fd < 0) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to get eventfd\n");
+		goto err;
+	}
+
+	ch->pfd.events = POLLIN;
+	ret = rbd_set_image_notification(ch->image, ch->pfd.fd, EVENT_TYPE_EVENTFD);
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to set rbd image notification\n");
+		goto err;
+	}
+
+	ch->queue_depth = 128;
+	ch->comps = calloc(sizeof(rbd_completion_t), ch->queue_depth);
+	if (!ch->comps) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate rbd completion array\n");
+		goto err;
 	}
 
-	pthread_mutex_init(&ch->lock, NULL);
 	spdk_poller_register(&ch->poller, blockdev_rbd_io_poll, ch,
 			     spdk_app_get_current_core(), NULL, 0);
 
 	return 0;
+
+err:
+	blockdev_rbd_free_channel(ch);
+	return -1;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -404,17 +442,7 @@ blockdev_rbd_destroy_cb(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 {
 	struct blockdev_rbd_io_channel *io_channel = ctx_buf;
 
-	if (io_channel->image) {
-		blockdev_rbd_exit(io_channel->image);
-	}
-
-	if (io_channel->io_ctx) {
-		rados_ioctx_destroy(io_channel->io_ctx);
-	}
-
-	if (io_channel->cluster) {
-		rados_shutdown(io_channel->cluster);
-	}
+	blockdev_rbd_free_channel(io_channel);
 
 	spdk_poller_unregister(&io_channel->poller, NULL);
 }