diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/pci.c b/lib/env_dpdk/pci.c
index 844647cb51..f90ef946f9 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/pci.c
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/pci.c
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@
 #define DPDK_HOTPLUG_RETRY_COUNT 4
 
 /* DPDK alarm/interrupt thread */
-static pthread_t g_dpdk_tid;
 static pthread_mutex_t g_pci_mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 static TAILQ_HEAD(, spdk_pci_device) g_pci_devices = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(g_pci_devices);
 /* devices hotplugged on a dpdk thread */
@@ -103,10 +102,8 @@ cfg_write_rte(struct spdk_pci_device *dev, void *value, uint32_t len, uint32_t o
 }
 
 static void
-detach_rte_cb(void *_dev)
+remove_rte_dev(struct rte_pci_device *rte_dev)
 {
-	struct rte_pci_device *rte_dev = _dev;
-
 #if RTE_VERSION >= RTE_VERSION_NUM(18, 11, 0, 0)
 	char bdf[32];
 	int i = 0, rc;
@@ -120,6 +117,12 @@ detach_rte_cb(void *_dev)
 #endif
 }
 
+static void
+detach_rte_cb(void *_dev)
+{
+	remove_rte_dev(_dev);
+}
+
 static void
 detach_rte(struct spdk_pci_device *dev)
 {
@@ -131,8 +134,8 @@ detach_rte(struct spdk_pci_device *dev)
 	 * again while we go asynchronous, so we explicitly forbid that.
 	 */
 	dev->internal.pending_removal = true;
-	if (!spdk_process_is_primary() || pthread_equal(g_dpdk_tid, pthread_self())) {
-		detach_rte_cb(rte_dev);
+	if (!spdk_process_is_primary()) {
+		remove_rte_dev(rte_dev);
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -206,8 +209,8 @@ pci_device_rte_hotremove(const char *device_name,
 	pthread_mutex_unlock(&g_pci_mutex);
 
 	if (dev != NULL && can_detach) {
-		/* if device is not attached, we can remove it right away. */
-		detach_rte(dev);
+		/* if device is not attached we can remove it right away. */
+		remove_rte_dev(dev->dev_handle);
 	}
 }
 #endif
@@ -238,12 +241,6 @@ cleanup_pci_devices(void)
 	pthread_mutex_unlock(&g_pci_mutex);
 }
 
-static void
-_get_alarm_thread_cb(void *unused)
-{
-	g_dpdk_tid = pthread_self();
-}
-
 void
 pci_env_init(void)
 {
@@ -276,11 +273,6 @@ pci_env_init(void)
 		rte_dev_event_callback_register(NULL, pci_device_rte_hotremove, NULL);
 	}
 #endif
-
-	rte_eal_alarm_set(1, _get_alarm_thread_cb, NULL);
-	/* alarms are executed in order, so this one will be always executed
-	 * before any real hotremove alarms and we don't need to wait for it.
-	 */
 }
 
 void