diff --git a/lib/bdev/iscsi/bdev_iscsi.c b/lib/bdev/iscsi/bdev_iscsi.c
index a41514d243..2cefb7f4b4 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/iscsi/bdev_iscsi.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/iscsi/bdev_iscsi.c
@@ -100,7 +100,6 @@ struct bdev_iscsi_conn_req {
 	spdk_bdev_iscsi_create_cb		create_cb;
 	spdk_bdev_iscsi_create_cb		create_cb_arg;
 	TAILQ_ENTRY(bdev_iscsi_conn_req)	link;
-	bool					deleted;
 };
 
 static int
@@ -537,7 +536,7 @@ complete_conn_req(struct bdev_iscsi_conn_req *req, struct spdk_bdev *bdev,
 {
 	TAILQ_REMOVE(&g_iscsi_conn_req, req, link);
 	req->create_cb(req->create_cb_arg, bdev, status);
-	req->deleted = true;
+	free(req);
 }
 
 static int
@@ -646,10 +645,12 @@ iscsi_bdev_conn_poll(void *arg)
 {
 	struct bdev_iscsi_conn_req *req, *tmp;
 	struct pollfd pfd;
+	struct iscsi_context *context;
 
 	TAILQ_FOREACH_SAFE(req, &g_iscsi_conn_req, link, tmp) {
-		pfd.fd = iscsi_get_fd(req->context);
-		pfd.events = iscsi_which_events(req->context);
+		context = req->context;
+		pfd.fd = iscsi_get_fd(context);
+		pfd.events = iscsi_which_events(context);
 		pfd.revents = 0;
 		if (poll(&pfd, 1, 0) < 0) {
 			SPDK_ERRLOG("poll failed\n");
@@ -657,14 +658,10 @@ iscsi_bdev_conn_poll(void *arg)
 		}
 
 		if (pfd.revents != 0) {
-			if (iscsi_service(req->context, pfd.revents) < 0) {
-				SPDK_ERRLOG("iscsi_service failed: %s\n", iscsi_get_error(req->context));
+			if (iscsi_service(context, pfd.revents) < 0) {
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("iscsi_service failed: %s\n", iscsi_get_error(context));
 			}
 		}
-
-		if (req->deleted) {
-			free(req);
-		}
 	}
 
 	return -1;