diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
index a20101db2..095c4b436 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_internal.h
@@ -1117,6 +1117,8 @@ bool	nvme_completion_is_retry(const struct spdk_nvme_cpl *cpl);
 struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *spdk_nvme_get_ctrlr_by_trid_unsafe(
 	const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid);
 
+const struct nvme_transport *nvme_get_transport(const char *transport_name);
+
 /* Transport specific functions */
 #define DECLARE_TRANSPORT(name) \
 	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *nvme_ ## name ## _ctrlr_construct(const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid, const struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr_opts *opts, \
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c
index 161fd04a4..04a1eedad 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_transport.c
@@ -109,17 +109,28 @@ spdk_nvme_transport_available_by_name(const char *transport_name)
 	return spdk_nvme_transport_available(trtype);
 }
 
+const struct nvme_transport *
+nvme_get_transport(const char *transport_name)
+{
+	struct nvme_transport *registered_transport;
+
+	TAILQ_FOREACH(registered_transport, &g_spdk_nvme_transports, link) {
+		if (strcasecmp(transport_name, registered_transport->ops.name) == 0) {
+			return registered_transport;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 void
 spdk_nvme_transport_register(const struct spdk_nvme_transport_ops *ops)
 {
-	struct nvme_transport *registered_transport, *new_transport;
+	struct nvme_transport *new_transport;
 
-	TAILQ_FOREACH(registered_transport, &g_spdk_nvme_transports, link) {
-		if (strcasecmp(ops->name, registered_transport->ops.name) == 0) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("Double registering NVMe transport %s is prohibited.\n", ops->name);
-			assert(false);
-			return;
-		}
+	if (nvme_get_transport(ops->name)) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Double registering NVMe transport %s is prohibited.\n", ops->name);
+		assert(false);
 	}
 
 	new_transport = calloc(1, sizeof(*new_transport));