diff --git a/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c b/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c
index 573dc278ca71..8290e45464e3 100644
--- a/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c
+++ b/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c
@@ -6,6 +6,113 @@
 
 #include "smbdirect_internal.h"
 
+static void smbdirect_connection_destroy_mem_pools(struct smbdirect_socket *sc);
+
+__maybe_unused /* this is temporary while this file is included in others */
+static int smbdirect_connection_create_mem_pools(struct smbdirect_socket *sc)
+{
+	const struct smbdirect_socket_parameters *sp = &sc->parameters;
+	char name[80];
+	size_t i;
+
+	/*
+	 * We use sizeof(struct smbdirect_negotiate_resp) for the
+	 * payload size as it is larger as
+	 * sizeof(struct smbdirect_data_transfer).
+	 *
+	 * This will fit client and server usage for now.
+	 */
+	snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "smbdirect_send_io_cache_%p", sc);
+	struct kmem_cache_args send_io_args = {
+		.align		= __alignof__(struct smbdirect_send_io),
+	};
+	sc->send_io.mem.cache = kmem_cache_create(name,
+						  sizeof(struct smbdirect_send_io) +
+						  sizeof(struct smbdirect_negotiate_resp),
+						  &send_io_args,
+						  SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN);
+	if (!sc->send_io.mem.cache)
+		goto err;
+
+	sc->send_io.mem.pool = mempool_create_slab_pool(sp->send_credit_target,
+							sc->send_io.mem.cache);
+	if (!sc->send_io.mem.pool)
+		goto err;
+
+	/*
+	 * A payload size of sp->max_recv_size should fit
+	 * any message.
+	 *
+	 * For smbdirect_data_transfer messages the whole
+	 * buffer might be exposed to userspace
+	 * (currently on the client side...)
+	 * The documentation says data_offset = 0 would be
+	 * strange but valid.
+	 */
+	snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "smbdirect_recv_io_cache_%p", sc);
+	struct kmem_cache_args recv_io_args = {
+		.align		= __alignof__(struct smbdirect_recv_io),
+		.useroffset	= sizeof(struct smbdirect_recv_io),
+		.usersize	= sp->max_recv_size,
+	};
+	sc->recv_io.mem.cache = kmem_cache_create(name,
+						  sizeof(struct smbdirect_recv_io) +
+						  sp->max_recv_size,
+						  &recv_io_args,
+						  SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN);
+	if (!sc->recv_io.mem.cache)
+		goto err;
+
+	sc->recv_io.mem.pool = mempool_create_slab_pool(sp->recv_credit_max,
+							sc->recv_io.mem.cache);
+	if (!sc->recv_io.mem.pool)
+		goto err;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < sp->recv_credit_max; i++) {
+		struct smbdirect_recv_io *recv_io;
+
+		recv_io = mempool_alloc(sc->recv_io.mem.pool,
+					sc->recv_io.mem.gfp_mask);
+		if (!recv_io)
+			goto err;
+		recv_io->socket = sc;
+		recv_io->sge.length = 0;
+		list_add_tail(&recv_io->list, &sc->recv_io.free.list);
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+err:
+	smbdirect_connection_destroy_mem_pools(sc);
+	return -ENOMEM;
+}
+
+static void smbdirect_connection_destroy_mem_pools(struct smbdirect_socket *sc)
+{
+	struct smbdirect_recv_io *recv_io, *next_io;
+
+	list_for_each_entry_safe(recv_io, next_io, &sc->recv_io.free.list, list) {
+		list_del(&recv_io->list);
+		mempool_free(recv_io, sc->recv_io.mem.pool);
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Note mempool_destroy() and kmem_cache_destroy()
+	 * work fine with a NULL pointer
+	 */
+
+	mempool_destroy(sc->recv_io.mem.pool);
+	sc->recv_io.mem.pool = NULL;
+
+	kmem_cache_destroy(sc->recv_io.mem.cache);
+	sc->recv_io.mem.cache = NULL;
+
+	mempool_destroy(sc->send_io.mem.pool);
+	sc->send_io.mem.pool = NULL;
+
+	kmem_cache_destroy(sc->send_io.mem.cache);
+	sc->send_io.mem.cache = NULL;
+}
+
 __maybe_unused /* this is temporary while this file is included in others */
 static struct smbdirect_send_io *smbdirect_connection_alloc_send_io(struct smbdirect_socket *sc)
 {