diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2384ee23e..1f236776d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ be notified of any discovery log changes.
 A new API `spdk_jsonrpc_send_bool_response` was added to allow sending response for
 writing json bool results into one function.
 
+### rpc
+
+An new optional parameter `wait` was added to the RPC `iscsi_create_portal_group`,
+and an new RPC `iscsi_start_portal_group` was added. They will be used not to start
+listening on portals for a portal group until all associated target nodes are created
+at startup, otherwise some iSCSI initiators may fail to re-login when SPDK iSCSI
+target application restarts.
+
 ## v20.10:
 
 ### accel
diff --git a/doc/jsonrpc.md b/doc/jsonrpc.md
index 3815a77f3..e50ebb193 100644
--- a/doc/jsonrpc.md
+++ b/doc/jsonrpc.md
@@ -4433,6 +4433,7 @@ Name                        | Optional | Type    | Description
 tag                         | Required | number  | Portal group tag
 portals                     | Required | array   | Not empty array of portals
 private                     | Optional | boolean | When true, portals in this group are not returned by a discovery session. Used for login redirection. (default: `false`)
+wait                        | Optional | boolean | When true, do not listen on portals until it is started explicitly. (default: `false`)
 
 Portal object
 
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_rpc.c b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_rpc.c
index 04ef5b685..20b4fa57e 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_rpc.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_rpc.c
@@ -706,6 +706,7 @@ struct rpc_portal_group {
 	int32_t tag;
 	struct rpc_portal_list portal_list;
 	bool is_private;
+	bool wait;
 };
 
 static void
@@ -760,6 +761,7 @@ static const struct spdk_json_object_decoder rpc_portal_group_decoders[] = {
 	{"tag", offsetof(struct rpc_portal_group, tag), spdk_json_decode_int32},
 	{"portals", offsetof(struct rpc_portal_group, portal_list), decode_rpc_portal_list},
 	{"private", offsetof(struct rpc_portal_group, is_private), spdk_json_decode_bool, true},
+	{"wait", offsetof(struct rpc_portal_group, wait), spdk_json_decode_bool, true},
 };
 
 static void
@@ -794,7 +796,7 @@ rpc_iscsi_create_portal_group(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 		iscsi_portal_grp_add_portal(pg, portal);
 	}
 
-	rc = iscsi_portal_grp_open(pg, false);
+	rc = iscsi_portal_grp_open(pg, req.wait);
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("portal_grp_open failed\n");
 		goto out;
diff --git a/scripts/rpc.py b/scripts/rpc.py
index b9e50a94f..4bc804c85 100755
--- a/scripts/rpc.py
+++ b/scripts/rpc.py
@@ -1183,7 +1183,8 @@ Format: 'user:u1 secret:s1 muser:mu1 msecret:ms1,user:u2 secret:s2 muser:mu2 mse
             args.client,
             portals=portals,
             tag=args.tag,
-            private=args.private)
+            private=args.private,
+            wait=args.wait)
 
     p = subparsers.add_parser('iscsi_create_portal_group', aliases=['add_portal_group'],
                               help='Add a portal group')
@@ -1195,6 +1196,9 @@ Format: 'user:u1 secret:s1 muser:mu1 msecret:ms1,user:u2 secret:s2 muser:mu2 mse
     Private portal groups do not have their portals returned by a discovery session. A public
     portal group may optionally specify a redirect portal for non-discovery logins. This redirect
     portal must be from a private portal group.""", action='store_true')
+    p.add_argument('-w', '--wait', help="""Do not listening on portals until it is started explicitly.
+    One major iSCSI initiator may not retry login once it failed. Hence for such initiator, listening
+    on portals should be allowed after all associated target nodes are created.""", action='store_true')
     p.set_defaults(func=iscsi_create_portal_group)
 
     def iscsi_start_portal_group(args):
diff --git a/scripts/rpc/iscsi.py b/scripts/rpc/iscsi.py
index c4631133e..e98126f57 100644
--- a/scripts/rpc/iscsi.py
+++ b/scripts/rpc/iscsi.py
@@ -424,13 +424,14 @@ def iscsi_target_node_request_logout(client, name, pg_tag):
 
 
 @deprecated_alias('add_portal_group')
-def iscsi_create_portal_group(client, portals, tag, private):
+def iscsi_create_portal_group(client, portals, tag, private, wait):
     """Add a portal group.
 
     Args:
         portals: List of portals, e.g. [{'host': ip, 'port': port}]
         tag: Initiator group tag (unique, integer > 0)
         private: Public (false) or private (true) portal group for login redirection.
+        wait: Do not listen on portals until it is allowed explictly.
 
     Returns:
         True or False
@@ -439,6 +440,8 @@ def iscsi_create_portal_group(client, portals, tag, private):
 
     if private:
         params['private'] = private
+    if wait:
+        params['wait'] = wait
     return client.call('iscsi_create_portal_group', params)
 
 
diff --git a/scripts/spdkcli/ui_node_iscsi.py b/scripts/spdkcli/ui_node_iscsi.py
index 6852670b3..cb7cbee19 100644
--- a/scripts/spdkcli/ui_node_iscsi.py
+++ b/scripts/spdkcli/ui_node_iscsi.py
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ class UIPortalGroups(UINode):
             if cpumask:
                 print("WARNING: Specifying a CPU mask for portal groups is no longer supported. Ignoring.")
         tag = self.ui_eval_param(tag, "number", None)
-        self.get_root().construct_portal_group(tag=tag, portals=portals, private=None)
+        self.get_root().construct_portal_group(tag=tag, portals=portals, private=None, wait=None)
 
     def ui_command_delete(self, tag):
         """Delete a portal group with given tag (unique, integer > 0))"""