diff --git a/include/spdk/nvme.h b/include/spdk/nvme.h
index da1e72b345..07186219fd 100644
--- a/include/spdk/nvme.h
+++ b/include/spdk/nvme.h
@@ -49,9 +49,6 @@ extern "C" {
 #include "spdk/nvmf_spec.h"
 
 #define SPDK_NVME_DEFAULT_RETRY_COUNT	(4)
-extern int32_t		spdk_nvme_retry_count;
-
-
 
 /**
  * Opaque handle to a controller. Returned by spdk_nvme_probe()'s attach_cb.
diff --git a/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c b/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
index 574ebd3cc8..3ae089cbc7 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
@@ -1297,6 +1297,7 @@ spdk_bdev_nvme_create(struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 	ctx->trid = *trid;
 
 	spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_default_ctrlr_opts(&ctx->opts, sizeof(ctx->opts));
+	ctx->opts.transport_retry_count = g_opts.retry_count;
 
 	if (hostnqn) {
 		snprintf(ctx->opts.hostnqn, sizeof(ctx->opts.hostnqn), "%s", hostnqn);
@@ -1504,6 +1505,7 @@ bdev_nvme_library_init(void)
 			}
 
 			spdk_nvme_ctrlr_get_default_ctrlr_opts(&opts, sizeof(opts));
+			opts.transport_retry_count = g_opts.retry_count;
 
 			if (probe_ctx->hostnqn != NULL) {
 				snprintf(opts.hostnqn, sizeof(opts.hostnqn), "%s", probe_ctx->hostnqn);
@@ -1559,8 +1561,6 @@ bdev_nvme_library_init(void)
 		rc = -1;
 	}
 end:
-	spdk_nvme_retry_count = g_opts.retry_count;
-
 	free(probe_ctx);
 	return rc;
 }
@@ -2054,7 +2054,7 @@ bdev_nvme_get_spdk_running_config(FILE *fp)
 	fprintf(fp, "\n"
 		"# The number of attempts per I/O when an I/O fails. Do not include\n"
 		"# this key to get the default behavior.\n");
-	fprintf(fp, "RetryCount %d\n", spdk_nvme_retry_count);
+	fprintf(fp, "RetryCount %d\n", g_opts.retry_count);
 	fprintf(fp, "\n"
 		"# Timeout for each command, in microseconds. If 0, don't track timeouts.\n");
 	fprintf(fp, "TimeoutUsec %"PRIu64"\n", g_opts.timeout_us);
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme.c b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
index ffb67293a6..5edc1a7d6f 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme.c
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@
 struct nvme_driver	*g_spdk_nvme_driver;
 pid_t			g_spdk_nvme_pid;
 
-int32_t			spdk_nvme_retry_count;
-
 /* gross timeout of 180 seconds in milliseconds */
 static int g_nvme_driver_timeout_ms = 3 * 60 * 1000;
 
diff --git a/test/nvme/reset/reset.c b/test/nvme/reset/reset.c
index 82ad8692c6..e83d557886 100644
--- a/test/nvme/reset/reset.c
+++ b/test/nvme/reset/reset.c
@@ -610,13 +610,11 @@ associate_workers_with_ns(void)
 }
 
 static int
-run_nvme_reset_cycle(int retry_count)
+run_nvme_reset_cycle(void)
 {
 	struct worker_thread *worker;
 	struct ns_worker_ctx *ns_ctx;
 
-	spdk_nvme_retry_count = retry_count;
-
 	if (work_fn(g_workers) != 0) {
 		return -1;
 	}
@@ -700,7 +698,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	printf("Initialization complete. Launching workers.\n");
 
 	for (i = 2; i >= 0; i--) {
-		rc = run_nvme_reset_cycle(i);
+		rc = run_nvme_reset_cycle();
 		if (rc != 0) {
 			goto cleanup;
 		}
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c/nvme_pcie_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c/nvme_pcie_ut.c
index ea8edeb1ff..937bd42557 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c/nvme_pcie_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvme/nvme_pcie.c/nvme_pcie_ut.c
@@ -51,8 +51,6 @@ static struct nvme_driver _g_nvme_driver = {
 };
 struct nvme_driver *g_spdk_nvme_driver = &_g_nvme_driver;
 
-int32_t spdk_nvme_retry_count = 1;
-
 struct nvme_request *g_request = NULL;
 
 extern bool ut_fail_vtophys;
@@ -469,7 +467,6 @@ test_sgl_req(void)
 	req->cmd.opc = SPDK_NVME_OPC_WRITE;
 	req->cmd.cdw10 = 10000;
 	req->cmd.cdw12 = 7 | 0;
-	spdk_nvme_retry_count = 1;
 	fail_next_sge = true;
 
 	CU_ASSERT(nvme_qpair_submit_request(&qpair, req) != 0);