diff --git a/lib/mbuf/rte_mbuf_dyn.c b/lib/mbuf/rte_mbuf_dyn.c
index db8e020665..4ae79383b5 100644
--- a/lib/mbuf/rte_mbuf_dyn.c
+++ b/lib/mbuf/rte_mbuf_dyn.c
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ void rte_mbuf_dyn_dump(FILE *out)
 	size_t i;
 
 	rte_mcfg_tailq_write_lock();
-	if (init_shared_mem() < 0) {
+	if (shm == NULL && init_shared_mem() < 0) {
 		rte_mcfg_tailq_write_unlock();
 		return;
 	}