diff --git a/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c b/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
index 65b52f5a2..d2f281579 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
@@ -852,7 +852,7 @@ timeout_cb(void *cb_arg, struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 
 static int
 create_ctrlr(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
-	     char *name,
+	     const char *name,
 	     const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid)
 {
 	struct nvme_ctrlr *nvme_ctrlr;
@@ -874,7 +874,7 @@ create_ctrlr(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 	nvme_ctrlr->ctrlr = ctrlr;
 	nvme_ctrlr->ref = 0;
 	nvme_ctrlr->trid = *trid;
-	nvme_ctrlr->name = name;
+	nvme_ctrlr->name = strdup(name);
 
 	spdk_io_device_register(ctrlr, bdev_nvme_create_cb, bdev_nvme_destroy_cb,
 				sizeof(struct nvme_io_channel));
@@ -905,7 +905,6 @@ attach_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 	struct nvme_probe_ctx *ctx = cb_ctx;
 	char *name = NULL;
 	size_t i;
-	int rc;
 
 	if (ctx) {
 		for (i = 0; i < ctx->count; i++) {
@@ -924,11 +923,9 @@ attach_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 
 	SPDK_DEBUGLOG(SPDK_LOG_BDEV_NVME, "Attached to %s (%s)\n", trid->traddr, name);
 
-	rc = create_ctrlr(ctrlr, name, trid);
-	if (rc) {
-		free(name);
-		return;
-	}
+	create_ctrlr(ctrlr, name, trid);
+
+	free(name);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -1138,16 +1135,36 @@ bdev_nvme_library_init(void)
 		probe_ctx->count++;
 
 		if (probe_ctx->trids[i].trtype != SPDK_NVME_TRANSPORT_PCIE) {
+			struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr;
+			struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts opts;
+
+			if (nvme_ctrlr_get(&probe_ctx->trids[i])) {
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("A controller with the provided trid (traddr: %s) already exists.\n",
+					    probe_ctx->trids[i].traddr);
+				rc = -1;
+				goto end;
+			}
+
 			if (probe_ctx->trids[i].subnqn[0] == '\0') {
 				SPDK_ERRLOG("Need to provide subsystem nqn\n");
 				rc = -1;
 				goto end;
 			}
 
-			if (spdk_nvme_probe(&probe_ctx->trids[i], probe_ctx, probe_cb, attach_cb, NULL)) {
+			spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_default_ctrlr_opts(&opts, sizeof(opts));
+
+			ctrlr = spdk_nvme_connect(&probe_ctx->trids[i], &opts, sizeof(opts));
+			if (ctrlr == NULL) {
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to connect to provided trid (traddr: %s)\n",
+					    probe_ctx->trids[i].traddr);
 				rc = -1;
 				goto end;
 			}
+
+			rc = create_ctrlr(ctrlr, probe_ctx->names[i], &probe_ctx->trids[i]);
+			if (!rc) {
+				goto end;
+			}
 		} else {
 			local_nvme_num++;
 		}