diff --git a/test/vhost/common.sh b/test/vhost/common.sh
index 4a0d5025b..ff2403cbf 100644
--- a/test/vhost/common.sh
+++ b/test/vhost/common.sh
@@ -166,12 +166,24 @@ function vhost_run() {
 
 	timing_enter vhost_start
 
-	$cmd &
+	iobuf_small_count=${iobuf_small_count:-16383}
+	iobuf_large_count=${iobuf_large_count:-2047}
+
+	$cmd --wait-for-rpc &
 	vhost_pid=$!
 	echo $vhost_pid > $vhost_pid_file
 
 	notice "waiting for app to run..."
 	waitforlisten "$vhost_pid" "$vhost_dir/rpc.sock"
+
+	"$rootdir/scripts/rpc.py" -s "$vhost_dir/rpc.sock" \
+		iobuf_set_options \
+		--small-pool-count="$iobuf_small_count" \
+		--large-pool-count="$iobuf_large_count"
+
+	"$rootdir/scripts/rpc.py" -s "$vhost_dir/rpc.sock" \
+		framework_start_init
+
 	#do not generate nvmes if pci access is disabled
 	if [[ "$cmd" != *"--no-pci"* ]] && [[ "$cmd" != *"-u"* ]] && $run_gen_nvme; then
 		$rootdir/scripts/gen_nvme.sh | $rootdir/scripts/rpc.py -s $vhost_dir/rpc.sock load_subsystem_config
diff --git a/test/vhost/perf_bench/vhost_perf.sh b/test/vhost/perf_bench/vhost_perf.sh
index 5d316ecf4..a773276d1 100755
--- a/test/vhost/perf_bench/vhost_perf.sh
+++ b/test/vhost/perf_bench/vhost_perf.sh
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ function usage() {
 	echo "                            NVME PCI BDF,Spdk Bdev Name,Split Count,VM List"
 	echo "                            0000:1a:00.0,Nvme0,2,0 1"
 	echo "                            0000:1b:00.0,Nvme1,2,2 3"
+	echo "    --iobuf-small-pool-count=INT   number of small buffers in the global pool"
+	echo "    --iobuf-large-pool-count=INT   number of large buffers in the global pool"
 	echo "-x                          set -x for script debug"
 	exit 0
 }
@@ -198,6 +200,8 @@ while getopts 'xh-:' optchar; do
 				limit-kernel-vhost=*) kernel_cpus="${OPTARG#*=}" ;;
 				custom-cpu-cfg=*) custom_cpu_cfg="${OPTARG#*=}" ;;
 				disk-map=*) disk_map="${OPTARG#*=}" ;;
+				iobuf-small-pool-count=*) iobuf_small_count="${OPTARG#*=}" ;;
+				iobuf-large-pool-count=*) iobuf_large_count="${OPTARG#*=}" ;;
 				*) usage $0 "Invalid argument '$OPTARG'" ;;
 			esac
 			;;