diff --git a/lib/iscsi/conn.c b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
index a3572981f..8038be0cc 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/conn.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
@@ -63,15 +63,12 @@ static uint32_t *g_num_connections;
 struct spdk_iscsi_conn *g_conns_array = MAP_FAILED;
 static char g_shm_name[64];
 
-static pthread_mutex_t g_conns_mutex;
+static pthread_mutex_t g_conns_mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 static struct spdk_poller *g_shutdown_timer = NULL;
 
 static uint32_t spdk_iscsi_conn_allocate_reactor(const struct spdk_cpuset *cpumask);
 
-void spdk_iscsi_conn_login_do_work(void *arg);
-void spdk_iscsi_conn_full_feature_do_work(void *arg);
-
 static void spdk_iscsi_conn_full_feature_migrate(void *arg1, void *arg2);
 static void spdk_iscsi_conn_stop(struct spdk_iscsi_conn *conn);
 static void spdk_iscsi_conn_sock_cb(void *arg, struct spdk_sock_group *group,
@@ -119,17 +116,11 @@ spdk_find_iscsi_connection_by_id(int cid)
 int spdk_initialize_iscsi_conns(void)
 {
 	size_t conns_size = sizeof(struct spdk_iscsi_conn) * MAX_ISCSI_CONNECTIONS;
-	int conns_array_fd, rc;
+	int conns_array_fd;
 	uint32_t i, last_core;
 
 	SPDK_DEBUGLOG(SPDK_LOG_ISCSI, "spdk_iscsi_init\n");
 
-	rc = pthread_mutex_init(&g_conns_mutex, NULL);
-	if (rc != 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("mutex_init() failed\n");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
 	snprintf(g_shm_name, sizeof(g_shm_name), "/spdk_iscsi_conns.%d", spdk_app_get_shm_id());
 	conns_array_fd = shm_open(g_shm_name, O_RDWR | O_CREAT, 0600);
 	if (conns_array_fd < 0) {
@@ -176,7 +167,6 @@ err:
 		shm_unlink(g_shm_name);
 	}
 
-	pthread_mutex_destroy(&g_conns_mutex);
 	return -1;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c b/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c
index b69f77bf4..a4b1e221d 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c
@@ -66,7 +66,13 @@
 #define HAVE_ARC4RANDOM 1
 #endif
 
-struct spdk_iscsi_globals g_spdk_iscsi;
+struct spdk_iscsi_globals g_spdk_iscsi = {
+	.mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER,
+	.portal_head = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(g_spdk_iscsi.portal_head),
+	.pg_head = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(g_spdk_iscsi.pg_head),
+	.ig_head = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(g_spdk_iscsi.ig_head),
+	.target_head = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(g_spdk_iscsi.target_head),
+};
 
 /* random value generation */
 static void spdk_gen_random(uint8_t *buf, size_t len);
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
index 3b9710560..0ec191c22 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
@@ -825,23 +825,12 @@ spdk_iscsi_initialize_iscsi_globals(struct spdk_iscsi_opts *opts)
 	 */
 	g_spdk_iscsi.MaxConnections = g_spdk_iscsi.MaxSessions;
 
-	rc = pthread_mutex_init(&g_spdk_iscsi.mutex, NULL);
-	if (rc != 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("mutex_init() failed\n");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
 	rc = spdk_iscsi_initialize_all_pools();
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("spdk_initialize_all_pools() failed\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	TAILQ_INIT(&g_spdk_iscsi.portal_head);
-	TAILQ_INIT(&g_spdk_iscsi.pg_head);
-	TAILQ_INIT(&g_spdk_iscsi.ig_head);
-	TAILQ_INIT(&g_spdk_iscsi.target_head);
-
 	spdk_iscsi_log_globals();
 
 	return 0;