diff --git a/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c b/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
index 7e29eb3ed..b35ea8fc6 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
@@ -177,23 +177,6 @@ attach_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 	fio_file_set_size_known(f);
 }
 
-static void
-cpu_core_unaffinitized(void)
-{
-	cpu_set_t mask;
-	int i;
-	int num = sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_CONF);
-
-	CPU_ZERO(&mask);
-	for (i = 0; i < num; i++) {
-		CPU_SET(i, &mask);
-	}
-
-	if (pthread_setaffinity_np(pthread_self(), sizeof(mask), &mask) < 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("set thread affinity failed\n");
-	}
-}
-
 /* Called once at initialization. This is responsible for gathering the size of
  * each "file", which in our case are in the form
  * 'key=value [key=value] ... ns=value'
@@ -234,7 +217,7 @@ static int spdk_fio_setup(struct thread_data *td)
 		opts.mem_size = 512;
 		spdk_env_init(&opts);
 		spdk_env_initialized = true;
-		cpu_core_unaffinitized();
+		spdk_unaffinitize_thread();
 	}
 
 	for_each_file(td, f, i) {
diff --git a/include/spdk/env.h b/include/spdk/env.h
index ac8eaaa42..576df10f9 100644
--- a/include/spdk/env.h
+++ b/include/spdk/env.h
@@ -376,6 +376,11 @@ int spdk_pci_addr_parse(struct spdk_pci_addr *addr, const char *bdf);
  */
 int spdk_pci_addr_fmt(char *bdf, size_t sz, const struct spdk_pci_addr *addr);
 
+/**
+ * Removes any CPU affinitization from the current thread.
+ */
+void spdk_unaffinitize_thread(void);
+
 /**
  * Call a function with CPU affinity unset.
  *
diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/env.c b/lib/env_dpdk/env.c
index a8624a408..d05842570 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/env.c
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/env.c
@@ -228,19 +228,12 @@ void spdk_delay_us(unsigned int us)
 	rte_delay_us(us);
 }
 
-void *
-spdk_call_unaffinitized(void *cb(void *arg), void *arg)
+void
+spdk_unaffinitize_thread(void)
 {
-	rte_cpuset_t orig_cpuset, new_cpuset;
-	void *ret;
+	rte_cpuset_t new_cpuset;
 	long num_cores, i;
 
-	if (cb == NULL) {
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	rte_thread_get_affinity(&orig_cpuset);
-
 	CPU_ZERO(&new_cpuset);
 
 	num_cores = sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_CONF);
@@ -251,6 +244,21 @@ spdk_call_unaffinitized(void *cb(void *arg), void *arg)
 	}
 
 	rte_thread_set_affinity(&new_cpuset);
+}
+
+void *
+spdk_call_unaffinitized(void *cb(void *arg), void *arg)
+{
+	rte_cpuset_t orig_cpuset;
+	void *ret;
+
+	if (cb == NULL) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	rte_thread_get_affinity(&orig_cpuset);
+
+	spdk_unaffinitize_thread();
 
 	ret = cb(arg);