diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
index c2777b393..245ac7daf 100644
--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
+++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
@@ -926,6 +926,17 @@ class NixlConnectorWorker:
         else:
             self.use_host_buffer = self.kv_buffer_device == "cpu"
 
+        # reserve different cores for start_load_kv() from model_forward()
+        if self.device_type == "cpu":
+            numa_core_list = current_platform.discover_numa_topology()
+            # setup one last core in each numa for kv transfer.
+            rsv_cores_for_kv = [
+                max(each_numa_core_list) for each_numa_core_list in numa_core_list
+            ]
+
+            if rsv_cores_for_kv:
+                os.sched_setaffinity(0, rsv_cores_for_kv)
+
         # support for oot platform which can't register nixl memory
         # type based on kv_buffer_device
         nixl_memory_type = current_platform.get_nixl_memory_type()
diff --git a/vllm/platforms/cpu.py b/vllm/platforms/cpu.py
index 46465a482..60180b272 100644
--- a/vllm/platforms/cpu.py
+++ b/vllm/platforms/cpu.py
@@ -213,6 +213,13 @@ class CpuPlatform(Platform):
 
         cache_config.cpu_kvcache_space_bytes = CpuPlatform.get_device_total_memory()
 
+        # reserve at least one core for nixl_connector under p/d case
+        if vllm_config.kv_transfer_config and (
+            envs.VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU == 0
+            or envs.VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU is None
+        ):
+            os.environ["VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU"] = "1"
+
         parallel_config = vllm_config.parallel_config
         if (
             parallel_config.world_size > 1
@@ -396,6 +403,60 @@ class CpuPlatform(Platform):
 
         return allowed_numa_nodes_list, logical_cpu_list
 
+    @classmethod
+    def discover_numa_topology(cls) -> list[list[int]]:
+        """
+        Discover NUMA topology and keep the last physical core of each numa
+        into one core group list for nixl start_kv_load()
+        """
+        SYS_NODE = "/sys/devices/system/node"
+        SYS_CPU = "/sys/devices/system/cpu"
+
+        if not (os.path.exists(SYS_NODE) and os.path.exists(SYS_CPU)):
+            return []
+
+        core_rsv_for_kv = []
+        for node in os.listdir(SYS_NODE):
+            if not node.startswith("node") or not node[4:].isdigit():
+                continue
+            node_path = f"{SYS_NODE}/{node}"
+
+            seen_phys = set()
+            for cpu in os.listdir(node_path):
+                if not cpu.startswith("cpu") or not cpu[3:].isdigit():
+                    continue
+
+                cpu_id = int(cpu[3:])
+                # thread_siblings based on cpu_id
+                path = f"{SYS_CPU}/cpu{cpu_id}/topology/thread_siblings_list"
+
+                if os.path.exists(path):
+                    try:
+                        with open(path) as f:
+                            s = f.read()
+                        cpus: list[int] = []
+                        for part in s.strip().split(","):
+                            if "-" in part:
+                                a, b = map(int, part.split("-"))
+                                cpus.extend(range(a, b + 1))
+                            else:
+                                cpus.append(int(part))
+                        siblings = cpus if cpus else [cpu_id]
+                    except (OSError, ValueError):
+                        siblings = [cpu_id]
+                else:
+                    siblings = [cpu_id]
+
+                phys = min(siblings)
+
+                if phys not in seen_phys:
+                    seen_phys.add(phys)
+
+            if len(seen_phys) > 0:
+                core_rsv_for_kv.append(list(seen_phys))
+
+        return core_rsv_for_kv
+
     @classmethod
     def is_pin_memory_available(cls) -> bool:
         return False
diff --git a/vllm/v1/worker/cpu_worker.py b/vllm/v1/worker/cpu_worker.py
index 169696ca1..8ccd45bb0 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/worker/cpu_worker.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/worker/cpu_worker.py
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ class CPUWorker(Worker):
     def init_device(self):
         # Setup OpenMP threads affinity.
         omp_cpuids = envs.VLLM_CPU_OMP_THREADS_BIND
+        # Under numa binding some cores reserved for kv transfer in nixl_connector.py
         if omp_cpuids == "auto" and platform.system() == "Linux":
             cpu_arch = current_platform.get_cpu_architecture()
             if cpu_arch in (CpuArchEnum.POWERPC, CpuArchEnum.S390X):