diff --git a/lib/nvmf/tcp.c b/lib/nvmf/tcp.c
index f2ec03bbc..0a4dec79f 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/tcp.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/tcp.c
@@ -559,7 +559,6 @@ spdk_nvmf_tcp_create(struct spdk_nvmf_transport_opts *opts)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	pthread_mutex_init(&ttransport->lock, NULL);
 	TAILQ_INIT(&ttransport->ports);
 
 	ttransport->transport.ops = &spdk_nvmf_transport_tcp;
@@ -595,6 +594,8 @@ spdk_nvmf_tcp_create(struct spdk_nvmf_transport_opts *opts)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
+	pthread_mutex_init(&ttransport->lock, NULL);
+
 	spdk_io_device_register(ttransport, spdk_nvmf_tcp_mgmt_channel_create,
 				spdk_nvmf_tcp_mgmt_channel_destroy,
 				sizeof(struct spdk_nvmf_tcp_mgmt_channel), "tcp_transport");