diff --git a/include/spdk/env_dpdk.h b/include/spdk/env_dpdk.h
index 9729ad560..2240558ad 100644
--- a/include/spdk/env_dpdk.h
+++ b/include/spdk/env_dpdk.h
@@ -48,9 +48,11 @@ extern "C" {
  * instead of spdk_env_init, prior to using any other functions in SPDK
  * env library.
  *
+ * \param legacy_mem Indicates whether DPDK was initialized with --legacy-mem
+ *                   eal parameter.
  * \return 0 on success, or negative errno on failure.
  */
-int spdk_env_dpdk_post_init(void);
+int spdk_env_dpdk_post_init(bool legacy_mem);
 
 /**
  * Release any resources of the environment library that were alllocated with
diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/env_internal.h b/lib/env_dpdk/env_internal.h
index 39ba35371..2a525a3ae 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/env_internal.h
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/env_internal.h
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ int spdk_pci_device_fini(struct rte_pci_device *device);
 
 void spdk_pci_init(void);
 void spdk_pci_fini(void);
-int spdk_mem_map_init(void);
+int spdk_mem_map_init(bool legacy_mem);
 int spdk_vtophys_init(void);
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/init.c b/lib/env_dpdk/init.c
index 9fed7c00f..ab2b9ac24 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/init.c
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/init.c
@@ -480,13 +480,13 @@ spdk_build_eal_cmdline(const struct spdk_env_opts *opts)
 }
 
 int
-spdk_env_dpdk_post_init(void)
+spdk_env_dpdk_post_init(bool legacy_mem)
 {
 	int rc;
 
 	spdk_pci_init();
 
-	rc = spdk_mem_map_init();
+	rc = spdk_mem_map_init(legacy_mem);
 	if (rc < 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to allocate mem_map\n");
 		return rc;
@@ -515,6 +515,7 @@ spdk_env_init(const struct spdk_env_opts *opts)
 	char **dpdk_args = NULL;
 	int i, rc;
 	int orig_optind;
+	bool legacy_mem;
 
 	g_external_init = false;
 
@@ -570,7 +571,12 @@ spdk_env_init(const struct spdk_env_opts *opts)
 		spdk_env_unlink_shared_files();
 	}
 
-	return spdk_env_dpdk_post_init();
+	legacy_mem = false;
+	if (opts->env_context && strstr(opts->env_context, "--legacy-mem") != NULL) {
+		legacy_mem = true;
+	}
+
+	return spdk_env_dpdk_post_init(legacy_mem);
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/memory.c b/lib/env_dpdk/memory.c
index 215967048..5099517d2 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/memory.c
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/memory.c
@@ -146,6 +146,8 @@ static struct spdk_mem_map *g_mem_reg_map;
 static TAILQ_HEAD(, spdk_mem_map) g_spdk_mem_maps = TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(g_spdk_mem_maps);
 static pthread_mutex_t g_spdk_mem_map_mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
+static bool g_legacy_mem;
+
 /*
  * Walk the currently registered memory via the main memory registration map
  * and call the new map's notify callback for each virtually contiguous region.
@@ -700,8 +702,10 @@ memory_iter_cb(const struct rte_memseg_list *msl,
 #endif
 
 int
-spdk_mem_map_init(void)
+spdk_mem_map_init(bool legacy_mem)
 {
+	g_legacy_mem = legacy_mem;
+
 	g_mem_reg_map = spdk_mem_map_alloc(0, NULL, NULL);
 	if (g_mem_reg_map == NULL) {
 		DEBUG_PRINT("memory registration map allocation failed\n");
diff --git a/test/env/env_dpdk_post_init/env_dpdk_post_init.c b/test/env/env_dpdk_post_init/env_dpdk_post_init.c
index 94a5685ae..1b3897ea8 100644
--- a/test/env/env_dpdk_post_init/env_dpdk_post_init.c
+++ b/test/env/env_dpdk_post_init/env_dpdk_post_init.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 
 	printf("Starting SPDK post initialization...\n");
-	ret = spdk_env_dpdk_post_init();
+	ret = spdk_env_dpdk_post_init(false);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to initialize SPDK\n");
 		return -1;
diff --git a/test/env/memory/memory_ut.c b/test/env/memory/memory_ut.c
index 0f7e036df..8122e73ba 100644
--- a/test/env/memory/memory_ut.c
+++ b/test/env/memory/memory_ut.c
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	g_page_array = spdk_bit_array_create(PAGE_ARRAY_SIZE);
 
 	/* Initialize the memory map */
-	if (spdk_mem_map_init() < 0) {
+	if (spdk_mem_map_init(false) < 0) {
 		return CUE_NOMEMORY;
 	}