diff --git a/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c b/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
index 0569f37e2e..9bcd4c8cff 100644
--- a/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
+++ b/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ static void
 spdk_fio_start_poller(struct spdk_bdev_poller **ppoller,
 		      spdk_bdev_poller_fn fn,
 		      void *arg,
-		      uint32_t lcore,
 		      uint64_t period_microseconds)
 {
 	struct spdk_fio_thread *fio_thread;
diff --git a/include/spdk/bdev.h b/include/spdk/bdev.h
index 68502018c9..771cb417ef 100644
--- a/include/spdk/bdev.h
+++ b/include/spdk/bdev.h
@@ -120,7 +120,6 @@ typedef void (*spdk_bdev_poller_fn)(void *arg);
 typedef void (*spdk_bdev_poller_start_cb)(struct spdk_bdev_poller **ppoller,
 		spdk_bdev_poller_fn fn,
 		void *arg,
-		uint32_t lcore,
 		uint64_t period_microseconds);
 typedef void (*spdk_bdev_poller_stop_cb)(struct spdk_bdev_poller **ppoller);
 
diff --git a/include/spdk_internal/bdev.h b/include/spdk_internal/bdev.h
index 124015c65b..40fb9a3365 100644
--- a/include/spdk_internal/bdev.h
+++ b/include/spdk_internal/bdev.h
@@ -367,12 +367,27 @@ int spdk_bdev_module_claim_bdev(struct spdk_bdev *bdev, struct spdk_bdev_desc *d
 				struct spdk_bdev_module_if *module);
 void spdk_bdev_module_release_bdev(struct spdk_bdev *bdev);
 
+/**
+ * Start a poller on the current thread to periodically call fn.
+ *
+ * \param[out] ppoller Will be filled with initialized poller pointer.
+ * \param fn Function to run periodically.
+ * \param arg Argument to be passed to fn.
+ * \param period_microseconds Delay between calls of the poller function,
+ *                            or 0 to call as frequently as possible.
+ *
+ * The user must call spdk_bdev_poller_stop() to clean up the resources allocated by this function.
+ */
 void spdk_bdev_poller_start(struct spdk_bdev_poller **ppoller,
 			    spdk_bdev_poller_fn fn,
 			    void *arg,
-			    uint32_t lcore,
 			    uint64_t period_microseconds);
 
+/**
+ * Stop a poller started by spdk_bdev_poller_start().
+ *
+ * \param ppoller Poller to stop.
+ */
 void spdk_bdev_poller_stop(struct spdk_bdev_poller **ppoller);
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
index 0080082ba3..f7fb21d7af 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
@@ -312,8 +312,7 @@ bdev_aio_create_cb(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&ch->poller, bdev_aio_poll, ch,
-			       spdk_env_get_current_core(), 0);
+	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&ch->poller, bdev_aio_poll, ch, 0);
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/bdev/bdev.c b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
index 7f733fddd9..de9b72b841 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/bdev.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
@@ -451,10 +451,9 @@ void
 spdk_bdev_poller_start(struct spdk_bdev_poller **ppoller,
 		       spdk_bdev_poller_fn fn,
 		       void *arg,
-		       uint32_t lcore,
 		       uint64_t period_microseconds)
 {
-	g_bdev_mgr.start_poller_fn(ppoller, fn, arg, lcore, period_microseconds);
+	g_bdev_mgr.start_poller_fn(ppoller, fn, arg, period_microseconds);
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c b/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
index 9a7a00515e..ecb1f16cd4 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/nvme/bdev_nvme.c
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ static int g_timeout = 0;
 static int g_nvme_adminq_poll_timeout_us = 0;
 static bool g_nvme_hotplug_enabled = false;
 static int g_nvme_hotplug_poll_timeout_us = 0;
-static int g_nvme_hotplug_poll_core = 0;
 static struct spdk_bdev_poller *g_hotplug_poller;
 static pthread_mutex_t g_bdev_nvme_mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
@@ -499,8 +498,7 @@ bdev_nvme_create_cb(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&ch->poller, bdev_nvme_poll, ch,
-			       spdk_env_get_current_core(), 0);
+	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&ch->poller, bdev_nvme_poll, ch, 0);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -849,7 +847,7 @@ attach_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 	}
 
 	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&nvme_ctrlr->adminq_timer_poller, bdev_nvme_poll_adminq, ctrlr,
-			       spdk_env_get_current_core(), g_nvme_adminq_poll_timeout_us);
+			       g_nvme_adminq_poll_timeout_us);
 
 	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&g_nvme_ctrlrs, nvme_ctrlr, tailq);
 
@@ -1029,12 +1027,6 @@ bdev_nvme_library_init(void)
 		g_nvme_hotplug_poll_timeout_us = 100000;
 	}
 
-	g_nvme_hotplug_poll_core = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "HotplugPollCore");
-	if (g_nvme_hotplug_poll_core <= 0) {
-		g_nvme_hotplug_poll_core = spdk_env_get_current_core();
-	}
-
-
 	for (i = 0; i < NVME_MAX_CONTROLLERS; i++) {
 		val = spdk_conf_section_get_nmval(sp, "TransportID", i, 0);
 		if (val == NULL) {
@@ -1084,7 +1076,6 @@ bdev_nvme_library_init(void)
 
 	if (g_nvme_hotplug_enabled) {
 		spdk_bdev_poller_start(&g_hotplug_poller, bdev_nvme_hotplug, NULL,
-				       g_nvme_hotplug_poll_core,
 				       g_nvme_hotplug_poll_timeout_us);
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/bdev/rbd/bdev_rbd.c b/lib/bdev/rbd/bdev_rbd.c
index e4c44c90aa..9f06be8e18 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/rbd/bdev_rbd.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/rbd/bdev_rbd.c
@@ -417,8 +417,7 @@ bdev_rbd_create_cb(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 		goto err;
 	}
 
-	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&ch->poller, bdev_rbd_io_poll, ch,
-			       spdk_env_get_current_core(), 0);
+	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&ch->poller, bdev_rbd_io_poll, ch, 0);
 
 	return 0;
 
diff --git a/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio.c b/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio.c
index fab444b87f..80427c6305 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio.c
@@ -453,8 +453,7 @@ bdev_virtio_create_cb(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 	ch->vdev = vdev;
 	ch->vq = vq;
 
-	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&vq->poller, bdev_virtio_poll, ch,
-			       vq->owner_lcore, 0);
+	spdk_bdev_poller_start(&vq->poller, bdev_virtio_poll, ch, 0);
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -876,9 +875,7 @@ bdev_virtio_initialize(void)
 		vq = vdev->vqs[VIRTIO_SCSI_REQUESTQ];
 		base->vq = vq;
 		vq->poller_ctx = base;
-		spdk_bdev_poller_start(&vq->poller, bdev_scan_poll, base,
-				       vq->owner_lcore, 0);
-
+		spdk_bdev_poller_start(&vq->poller, bdev_scan_poll, base, 0);
 		scan_target(base);
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/event/subsystems/bdev/bdev.c b/lib/event/subsystems/bdev/bdev.c
index bb54246445..0a9aa3870e 100644
--- a/lib/event/subsystems/bdev/bdev.c
+++ b/lib/event/subsystems/bdev/bdev.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #include "spdk/stdinc.h"
 
 #include "spdk/bdev.h"
+#include "spdk/env.h"
 
 #include "spdk_internal/event.h"
 
@@ -47,13 +48,12 @@ static void
 spdk_bdev_subsystem_start_poller(struct spdk_bdev_poller **ppoller,
 				 spdk_bdev_poller_fn fn,
 				 void *arg,
-				 uint32_t lcore,
 				 uint64_t period_microseconds)
 {
 	spdk_poller_register((struct spdk_poller **)ppoller,
 			     fn,
 			     arg,
-			     lcore,
+			     spdk_env_get_current_core(),
 			     period_microseconds);
 }