diff --git a/src/bin/vhost_user_blk.rs b/src/bin/vhost_user_blk.rs
index a696ccfca..39a7dd5f4 100644
--- a/src/bin/vhost_user_blk.rs
+++ b/src/bin/vhost_user_blk.rs
@@ -10,16 +10,10 @@
 
 #[macro_use(crate_version, crate_authors)]
 extern crate clap;
-extern crate log;
-extern crate vhost_user_backend;
 extern crate vhost_user_block;
 
 use clap::{App, Arg};
-use log::*;
-use std::process;
-use std::sync::{Arc, RwLock};
-use vhost_user_backend::VhostUserDaemon;
-use vhost_user_block::{VhostUserBlkBackend, VhostUserBlkBackendConfig};
+use vhost_user_block::start_block_backend;
 
 fn main() {
     let cmd_arguments = App::new("vhost-user-blk backend")
@@ -39,50 +33,6 @@ fn main() {
         )
         .get_matches();
 
-    let vhost_user_blk_backend = cmd_arguments.value_of("block-backend").unwrap();
-
-    let backend_config = match VhostUserBlkBackendConfig::parse(vhost_user_blk_backend) {
-        Ok(config) => config,
-        Err(e) => {
-            println!("Failed parsing parameters {:?}", e);
-            process::exit(1);
-        }
-    };
-
-    let blk_backend = Arc::new(RwLock::new(
-        VhostUserBlkBackend::new(
-            backend_config.image.to_string(),
-            backend_config.readonly,
-            backend_config.direct,
-        )
-        .unwrap(),
-    ));
-
-    debug!("blk_backend is created!\n");
-
-    let name = "vhost-user-blk-backend";
-    let mut blk_daemon = VhostUserDaemon::new(
-        name.to_string(),
-        backend_config.sock.to_string(),
-        blk_backend.clone(),
-    )
-    .unwrap();
-    debug!("blk_daemon is created!\n");
-
-    let vring_worker = blk_daemon.get_vring_worker();
-
-    blk_backend
-        .write()
-        .unwrap()
-        .set_vring_worker(Some(vring_worker));
-
-    if let Err(e) = blk_daemon.start() {
-        println!(
-            "failed to start daemon for vhost-user-blk with error: {:?}\n",
-            e
-        );
-        process::exit(1);
-    }
-
-    blk_daemon.wait().unwrap();
+    let backend_command = cmd_arguments.value_of("block-backend").unwrap();
+    start_block_backend(backend_command);
 }
diff --git a/vhost_user_block/src/lib.rs b/vhost_user_block/src/lib.rs
index bfd2877f7..542e304b2 100644
--- a/vhost_user_block/src/lib.rs
+++ b/vhost_user_block/src/lib.rs
@@ -23,11 +23,12 @@ use std::io::{Seek, SeekFrom, Write};
 use std::mem;
 use std::os::unix::fs::OpenOptionsExt;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::process;
 use std::slice;
 use std::sync::{Arc, RwLock};
 use std::vec::Vec;
 use vhost_rs::vhost_user::message::*;
-use vhost_user_backend::{VhostUserBackend, Vring, VringWorker};
+use vhost_user_backend::{VhostUserBackend, VhostUserDaemon, Vring, VringWorker};
 use virtio_bindings::bindings::virtio_blk::*;
 use vm_memory::{Bytes, GuestMemoryError, GuestMemoryMmap};
 use vm_virtio::block::{build_disk_image_id, Request};
@@ -274,3 +275,50 @@ impl<'a> VhostUserBlkBackendConfig<'a> {
         })
     }
 }
+
+pub fn start_block_backend(backend_command: &str) {
+    let backend_config = match VhostUserBlkBackendConfig::parse(backend_command) {
+        Ok(config) => config,
+        Err(e) => {
+            println!("Failed parsing parameters {:?}", e);
+            process::exit(1);
+        }
+    };
+
+    let blk_backend = Arc::new(RwLock::new(
+        VhostUserBlkBackend::new(
+            backend_config.image.to_string(),
+            backend_config.readonly,
+            backend_config.direct,
+        )
+        .unwrap(),
+    ));
+
+    debug!("blk_backend is created!\n");
+
+    let name = "vhost-user-blk-backend";
+    let mut blk_daemon = VhostUserDaemon::new(
+        name.to_string(),
+        backend_config.sock.to_string(),
+        blk_backend.clone(),
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+    debug!("blk_daemon is created!\n");
+
+    let vring_worker = blk_daemon.get_vring_worker();
+
+    blk_backend
+        .write()
+        .unwrap()
+        .set_vring_worker(Some(vring_worker));
+
+    if let Err(e) = blk_daemon.start() {
+        println!(
+            "failed to start daemon for vhost-user-blk with error: {:?}\n",
+            e
+        );
+        process::exit(1);
+    }
+
+    blk_daemon.wait().unwrap();
+}