diff --git a/lib/event/app.c b/lib/event/app.c
index 48268b0bb..cc96e8add 100644
--- a/lib/event/app.c
+++ b/lib/event/app.c
@@ -477,13 +477,16 @@ spdk_app_start(struct spdk_app_opts *opts, spdk_msg_fn start_fn,
 	}
 
 	/*
+	 * Disable and ignore trace setup if setting num_entries
+	 * to be 0.
+	 *
 	 * Note the call to app_setup_trace() is located here
 	 * ahead of app_setup_signal_handlers().
 	 * That's because there is not an easy/direct clean
 	 * way of unwinding alloc'd resources that can occur
 	 * in app_setup_signal_handlers().
 	 */
-	if (app_setup_trace(opts) != 0) {
+	if (opts->num_entries != 0 && app_setup_trace(opts) != 0) {
 		return 1;
 	}
 
@@ -577,7 +580,7 @@ usage(void (*app_usage)(void))
 	printf("      --huge-dir <path>    use a specific hugetlbfs mount to reserve memory from\n");
 	printf("      --iova-mode <pa/va>  set IOVA mode ('pa' for IOVA_PA and 'va' for IOVA_VA)\n");
 	printf("      --base-virtaddr <addr>      the base virtual address for DPDK (default: 0x200000000000)\n");
-	printf("      --num-trace-entries <num>   number of trace entries for each core, must be power of 2. (default %d)\n",
+	printf("      --num-trace-entries <num>   number of trace entries for each core, must be power of 2, setting 0 to disable trace (default %d)\n",
 	       SPDK_APP_DEFAULT_NUM_TRACE_ENTRIES);
 	spdk_log_usage(stdout, "-L");
 	spdk_trace_mask_usage(stdout, "-e");
@@ -797,13 +800,13 @@ spdk_app_parse_args(int argc, char **argv, struct spdk_app_opts *opts,
 			break;
 		case NUM_TRACE_ENTRIES_OPT_IDX:
 			tmp = spdk_strtoll(optarg, 0);
-			if (tmp <= 0) {
+			if (tmp < 0) {
 				SPDK_ERRLOG("Invalid num-trace-entries %s\n", optarg);
 				usage(app_usage);
 				goto out;
 			}
 			opts->num_entries = (uint64_t)tmp;
-			if (opts->num_entries & (opts->num_entries - 1)) {
+			if (opts->num_entries > 0 && opts->num_entries & (opts->num_entries - 1)) {
 				SPDK_ERRLOG("num-trace-entries must be power of 2\n");
 				usage(app_usage);
 				goto out;
diff --git a/lib/trace/trace_flags.c b/lib/trace/trace_flags.c
index f78d26a26..67bf21037 100644
--- a/lib/trace/trace_flags.c
+++ b/lib/trace/trace_flags.c
@@ -50,12 +50,21 @@ spdk_trace_get_tpoint_mask(uint32_t group_id)
 		return 0ULL;
 	}
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		return 0ULL;
+	}
+
 	return g_trace_flags->tpoint_mask[group_id];
 }
 
 void
 spdk_trace_set_tpoints(uint32_t group_id, uint64_t tpoint_mask)
 {
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("trace is not initialized\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (group_id >= SPDK_TRACE_MAX_GROUP_ID) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("invalid group ID %d\n", group_id);
 		return;
@@ -67,6 +76,11 @@ spdk_trace_set_tpoints(uint32_t group_id, uint64_t tpoint_mask)
 void
 spdk_trace_clear_tpoints(uint32_t group_id, uint64_t tpoint_mask)
 {
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("trace is not initialized\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (group_id >= SPDK_TRACE_MAX_GROUP_ID) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("invalid group ID %d\n", group_id);
 		return;
@@ -95,6 +109,11 @@ spdk_trace_set_tpoint_group_mask(uint64_t tpoint_group_mask)
 {
 	int i;
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("trace is not initialized\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_GROUP_ID; i++) {
 		if (tpoint_group_mask & (1ULL << i)) {
 			spdk_trace_set_tpoints(i, -1ULL);
@@ -107,6 +126,11 @@ spdk_trace_clear_tpoint_group_mask(uint64_t tpoint_group_mask)
 {
 	int i;
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("trace is not initialized\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	for (i = 0; i < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_GROUP_ID; i++) {
 		if (tpoint_group_mask & (1ULL << i)) {
 			spdk_trace_clear_tpoints(i, -1ULL);
@@ -161,6 +185,10 @@ spdk_trace_enable_tpoint_group(const char *group_name)
 {
 	uint64_t tpoint_group_mask = 0;
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	tpoint_group_mask = trace_create_tpoint_group_mask(group_name);
 	if (tpoint_group_mask == 0) {
 		return -1;
@@ -175,6 +203,10 @@ spdk_trace_disable_tpoint_group(const char *group_name)
 {
 	uint64_t tpoint_group_mask = 0;
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	tpoint_group_mask = trace_create_tpoint_group_mask(group_name);
 	if (tpoint_group_mask == 0) {
 		return -1;
@@ -208,6 +240,11 @@ spdk_trace_register_owner(uint8_t type, char id_prefix)
 
 	assert(type != OWNER_NONE);
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("trace is not initialized\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	/* 'owner' has 256 entries and since 'type' is a uint8_t, it
 	 * can't overrun the array.
 	 */
@@ -225,6 +262,11 @@ spdk_trace_register_object(uint8_t type, char id_prefix)
 
 	assert(type != OBJECT_NONE);
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("trace is not initialized\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	/* 'object' has 256 entries and since 'type' is a uint8_t, it
 	 * can't overrun the array.
 	 */
@@ -245,6 +287,11 @@ spdk_trace_register_description(const char *name, uint16_t tpoint_id, uint8_t ow
 	assert(tpoint_id != 0);
 	assert(tpoint_id < SPDK_TRACE_MAX_TPOINT_ID);
 
+	if (g_trace_flags == NULL) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("trace is not initialized\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (strnlen(name, sizeof(tpoint->name)) == sizeof(tpoint->name)) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("name (%s) too long\n", name);
 	}