diff --git a/lib/bdev/bdev.c b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
index 36b71a751..9c53877d2 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/bdev.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
@@ -726,7 +726,7 @@ spdk_bdev_mgmt_channel_create(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 		bdev_io = spdk_mempool_get(g_bdev_mgr.bdev_io_pool);
 		assert(bdev_io != NULL);
 		ch->per_thread_cache_count++;
-		STAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&ch->per_thread_cache, bdev_io, internal.buf_link);
+		STAILQ_INSERT_HEAD(&ch->per_thread_cache, bdev_io, internal.buf_link);
 	}
 
 	TAILQ_INIT(&ch->shared_resources);
@@ -1192,7 +1192,7 @@ spdk_bdev_free_io(struct spdk_bdev_io *bdev_io)
 
 	if (ch->per_thread_cache_count < ch->bdev_io_cache_size) {
 		ch->per_thread_cache_count++;
-		STAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&ch->per_thread_cache, bdev_io, internal.buf_link);
+		STAILQ_INSERT_HEAD(&ch->per_thread_cache, bdev_io, internal.buf_link);
 		while (ch->per_thread_cache_count > 0 && !TAILQ_EMPTY(&ch->io_wait_queue)) {
 			struct spdk_bdev_io_wait_entry *entry;