diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5cef1c0a4..24742e69c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ DIRS-$(CONFIG_ISAL) += isalbuild
 	cc_version cxx_version .libs_only_other .ldflags ldflags install \
 	uninstall
 
+# Workaround for ninja. See dpdkbuild/Makefile
+export MAKE_PID := $(shell echo $$PPID)
+
 ifeq ($(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/lib/env_dpdk,$(CONFIG_ENV))
 ifeq ($(CURDIR)/dpdk/build,$(CONFIG_DPDK_DIR))
 ifneq ($(SKIP_DPDK_BUILD),1)
diff --git a/dpdkbuild/Makefile b/dpdkbuild/Makefile
index e17675852..f6429eb44 100644
--- a/dpdkbuild/Makefile
+++ b/dpdkbuild/Makefile
@@ -36,87 +36,39 @@ include $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/mk/spdk.common.mk
 
 .PHONY: all clean install uninstall
 
-DPDK_FRAMEWORK = n
-DPDK_OPTS =
+DPDK_OPTS = -Denable_docs=false
 DPDK_CFLAGS =
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_BUILD_SHARED_LIB=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_AESNI_MB=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_REORDER=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_ETHER=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_CMDLINE=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_METER=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_HASH=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_VHOST=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_EAL_IGB_UIO=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_QAT=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_QAT_SYM=n
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_ISAL=n
 
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_SHARED),y)
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_BUILD_SHARED_LIB=y
-DPDK_LDFLAGS+= -rpath $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build/lib
+DPDK_KMODS = false
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_IGB_UIO_DRIVER),y)
+DPDK_KMODS = true
 endif
+ifeq ($(OS),FreeBSD)
+DPDK_KMODS = true
+endif
+DPDK_OPTS += -Denable_kmods=$(DPDK_KMODS)
+
+# the drivers we use
+DPDK_DRIVERS = bus bus/pci bus/vdev mempool/ring
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_CRYPTO),y)
-DPDK_FRAMEWORK = y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_AESNI_MB=y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_REORDER=y
+# crypto/qat is just a stub, the compress/qat pmd is used instead
+DPDK_DRIVERS += crypto crypto/aesni_mb crypto/qat compress/qat common/qat
 DPDK_CFLAGS += -I$(IPSEC_MB_DIR)
 DPDK_LDFLAGS += -L$(IPSEC_MB_DIR)
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_REDUCE),y)
-DPDK_FRAMEWORK = y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_ISAL=y
+DPDK_DRIVERS += compress compress/isal compress/qat common/qat
 DPDK_CFLAGS += -I$(ISAL_DIR)
-DPDK_LDFLAGS += -L$(ISAL_DIR)/.libs
+DPDK_LDFLAGS += -L$(ISAL_DIR)/.libs -lisal
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_VHOST),y)
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_ETHER=y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_CMDLINE=y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_METER=y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_HASH=y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_VHOST=y
-endif
-
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_IGB_UIO_DRIVER),y)
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_EAL_IGB_UIO=y
-endif
-
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_RAID5),y)
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_HASH=y
-endif
-
-ifeq ($(DPDK_FRAMEWORK),y)
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_QAT=y
-DPDK_OPTS += CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_QAT_SYM=y
-endif
-
-ifeq ($(TARGET_MACHINE),aarch64)
-DPDK_CONFIG := arm64-armv8a
-else
-DPDK_CONFIG := $(TARGET_MACHINE)-native
-endif
+DPDK_OPTS += -Dmachine=$(TARGET_ARCHITECTURE)
 
 ifneq ($(CONFIG_CROSS_PREFIX),)
-DPDK_OPTS += CROSS=$(CONFIG_CROSS_PREFIX)-
-endif
-
-ifeq ($(OS),Linux)
-DPDK_CONFIG := $(DPDK_CONFIG)-linuxapp
-NPROC := $(shell nproc)
-else
-ifeq ($(OS),FreeBSD)
-DPDK_CONFIG := $(DPDK_CONFIG)-bsdapp
-NPROC := $(shell sysctl hw.ncpu | awk '{print $$NF}')
-endif
-endif
-
-ifeq ($(CC_TYPE),clang)
-DPDK_CONFIG := $(DPDK_CONFIG)-clang
-else
-DPDK_CONFIG := $(DPDK_CONFIG)-gcc
+$(error Automatic DPDK cross build is not supported. Please compile DPDK manually \
+with e.g. `meson build --cross-file config/arm/arm64_armv8_linux_gcc`)
 endif
 
 DPDK_CFLAGS += -fPIC
@@ -154,15 +106,58 @@ endif
 # Force-disable scan-build
 SUB_CC = $(patsubst %ccc-analyzer,$(DEFAULT_CC),$(CC))
 
-$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build: $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/mk/cc.mk $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/include/spdk/config.h
-	$(Q)rm -rf $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build
-	$(Q)$(MAKE) -C $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk config T=$(DPDK_CONFIG) $(DPDK_OPTS)
+DPDK_ALL_DRIVER_DIRS = $(shell find $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/drivers -mindepth 1 -type d)
+DPDK_ALL_DRIVERS = $(DPDK_ALL_DRIVER_DIRS:$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/drivers/%=%)
+DPDK_DISABLED_DRVERS = $(filter-out $(DPDK_DRIVERS),$(DPDK_ALL_DRIVERS))
 
-all: $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build
-	$(Q)$(MAKE) -C $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build EXTRA_CFLAGS="$(DPDK_CFLAGS)" EXTRA_LDFLAGS="$(DPDK_LDFLAGS)" CC=$(SUB_CC) T="$(DPDK_CONFIG)" $(DPDK_OPTS)
+ifeq ($(OS),Linux)
+SED_INPLACE_FLAG = "-i"
+MESON_PREFIX = $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build
+else
+SED_INPLACE_FLAG = "-i ''"
+MESON_PREFIX = "/"
+endif
+
+# Some ninja versions come with a (broken?) jobserver which defaults to use
+# only 1 thread for the build. We workaround this by specifying -j to ninja
+# with the same value as top-makefile. This is OK as long as DPDK is not built
+# in parralel with anything else, which is the case for now.
+ifeq ($(MAKE_PID),)
+MAKE_PID := $(shell echo $$PPID)
+endif
+
+MAKE_NUMJOBS := $(shell ps T | sed -nE 's/\s*$(MAKE_PID)\s.* (-j|--jobs=)( *[0-9]+).*/\1\2/p')
+
+all: $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp
+	$(Q)# DPDK doesn't handle nested make calls, so unset MAKEFLAGS
+	$(Q)env -u MAKEFLAGS ninja -C $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp $(MAKE_NUMJOBS)
+	$(Q) \
+	# Meson on FreeBSD sometimes appends --prefix value to the default DESTDIR (which is e.g. \
+	# /usr/local) instead of replacing it. --prefix needs to be an absolute path, so we set \
+	# it to / and then set DESTDIR directly, so libs and headers are copied to "DESTDIR//". \
+	# DPDK kernel modules are set to install in $DESTDIR/boot/modules, but we move them \
+	# to DESTDIR/kmod to be consistent with the makefile build.
+	$(Q)if [ "$(OS)" = "FreeBSD" ]; then \
+		env -u MAKEFLAGS DESTDIR=$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build ninja -C $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp $(MAKE_NUMJOBS) install > /dev/null && \
+		mv $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build/boot/modules $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build/kmod; \
+	else \
+		env -u MAKEFLAGS ninja -C $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp $(MAKE_NUMJOBS) install > /dev/null; \
+	fi
+
+$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp: $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/mk/cc.mk $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/include/spdk/config.h
+	$(Q)rm -rf $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp
+	$(Q)cd "$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk"; CC="$(SUB_CC)" meson --prefix="$(MESON_PREFIX)" --libdir lib -Dc_args="$(DPDK_CFLAGS)" -Dc_link_args="$(DPDK_LDFLAGS)" $(DPDK_OPTS) -Ddisable_drivers="$(shell echo $(DPDK_DISABLED_DRVERS) | sed -E "s/ +/,/g")" build-tmp
+	$(Q)sed $(SED_INPLACE_FLAG) 's/#define RTE_EAL_PMD_PATH .*/#define RTE_EAL_PMD_PATH ""/g' $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp/rte_build_config.h
+	$(Q) \
+	# TODO Meson build adds libbsd dependency when it's available. This means any app will be \
+	# forced to link with -lbsd, but only if it's available on the system. The clean way to \
+	# handle this would be to rely on DPDK's pkg-config file which will contain the -lbsd when \
+	# required. For now just remove the libbsd dependency. DPDK will fallback to its internal \
+	# functions.
+	$(Q)sed $(SED_INPLACE_FLAG) 's/#define RTE_USE_LIBBSD .*//g' $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp/rte_build_config.h
 
 clean:
-	$(Q)rm -rf $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build
+	$(Q)rm -rf $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/dpdk/build-tmp
 
 install:
 	@:
diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/env.mk b/lib/env_dpdk/env.mk
index 9410e3ae9..c2bfb0d19 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/env.mk
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/env.mk
@@ -48,10 +48,10 @@ DPDK_INC_DIR := $(DPDK_ABS_DIR)/include/dpdk
 endif
 DPDK_INC := -I$(DPDK_INC_DIR)
 
-ifneq (, $(wildcard $(DPDK_ABS_DIR)/lib/librte_eal.a))
-DPDK_LIB_EXT = .a
-else
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_SHARED),y)
 DPDK_LIB_EXT = .so
+else
+DPDK_LIB_EXT = .a
 endif
 
 DPDK_LIB_LIST = rte_eal rte_mempool rte_ring rte_mbuf
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_REDUCE),y)
 DPDK_FRAMEWORK=y
-DPDK_LIB_LIST += rte_pmd_isal_comp
+DPDK_LIB_LIST += rte_pmd_isal
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(DPDK_FRAMEWORK),y)
@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ else
 ENV_DPDK_FILE = $(call spdk_lib_list_to_static_libs,env_dpdk)
 endif
 ENV_LIBS = $(ENV_DPDK_FILE) $(DPDK_LIB)
-ENV_LINKER_ARGS = $(call dpdk_env_linker_args,$(DPDK_LIB_LIST))
+ENV_LINKER_ARGS = -Wl,-rpath-link $(DPDK_ABS_DIR)/lib
+ENV_LINKER_ARGS += $(call dpdk_env_linker_args,$(DPDK_LIB_LIST))
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_IPSEC_MB),y)
 ENV_LINKER_ARGS += -lIPSec_MB -L$(IPSEC_MB_DIR)
@@ -160,6 +161,13 @@ ENV_LINKER_ARGS += -lnuma
 endif
 endif
 
+# DPDK built with meson puts those defines elsewhere
+ifneq (,$(wildcard $(DPDK_INC_DIR)/rte_build_config.h))
+ifneq (,$(shell grep -e "define RTE_LIBRTE_VHOST_NUMA 1" -e "define RTE_EAL_NUMA_AWARE_HUGEPAGES 1" $(DPDK_INC_DIR)/rte_build_config.h))
+ENV_LINKER_ARGS += -lnuma
+endif
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(OS),Linux)
 ENV_LINKER_ARGS += -ldl
 endif
diff --git a/test/external_code/hello_world/Makefile b/test/external_code/hello_world/Makefile
index 263992e2d..9f6c9cf30 100644
--- a/test/external_code/hello_world/Makefile
+++ b/test/external_code/hello_world/Makefile
@@ -31,36 +31,43 @@
 #  OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #
 
-# Shows how to compile both an external bdev and an external application against the SPDK combined shared object and dpdk shared object.
+# Shows how to compile both an external bdev and an external application against the SPDK combined shared object and dpdk shared objects.
 bdev_shared_combo:
-	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -L../passthru -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -lpassthru_external -lspdk -lspdk_env_dpdk -ldpdk
+	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -L../passthru -Wl,-rpath=$(SPDK_LIB_DIR),--no-as-needed -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -lpassthru_external \
+	-lspdk -lspdk_env_dpdk -lrte_eal -lrte_mempool -lrte_ring -lrte_mbuf -lrte_mempool_ring -lrte_pci -lrte_bus_pci -lrte_kvargs \
+	-lrte_vhost -lrte_net -lrte_hash -lrte_cryptodev -Wl,--no-whole-archive
 
-# Shows how to compile both an external bdev and an external application against the SPDK individual shared objects and dpdk shared object.
+# Shows how to compile both an external bdev and an external application against the SPDK individual shared objects and dpdk shared objects.
 bdev_shared_iso:
 	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -L../passthru -Wl,-rpath=$(SPDK_LIB_DIR),--no-as-needed -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c \
-	-lpassthru_external -lspdk_event_bdev -lspdk_bdev -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_log -lspdk_thread -lspdk_util -lspdk_event -lspdk_env_dpdk -ldpdk
+	-lpassthru_external -lspdk_event_bdev -lspdk_event_accel -lspdk_event_vmd -lspdk_bdev -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_log -lspdk_thread -lspdk_util -lspdk_event \
+	-lspdk_env_dpdk -lrte_eal -lrte_mempool -lrte_ring -lrte_mbuf -lrte_mempool_ring -lrte_pci -lrte_bus_pci -lrte_kvargs \
+	-lrte_vhost -lrte_net -lrte_hash -lrte_cryptodev -Wl,--no-whole-archive -lnuma
 
-# Shows how to compile an external application against the SPDK combined shared object and dpdk shared object.
+# Shows how to compile an external application against the SPDK combined shared object and dpdk shared objects.
 alone_shared_combo:
-	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -lspdk -lspdk_env_dpdk -ldpdk
+	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -Wl,-rpath=$(SPDK_LIB_DIR),--no-as-needed -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -lspdk -lspdk_env_dpdk -lrte_eal \
+	-lrte_mempool -lrte_ring -lrte_mbuf -lrte_mempool_ring -lrte_pci -lrte_bus_pci -lrte_kvargs -lrte_vhost -lrte_net -lrte_hash -lrte_cryptodev
 
-# Shows how to compile an external application against the SPDK individual shared objects and dpdk shared object.
+# Shows how to compile an external application against the SPDK individual shared objects and dpdk shared objects.
 alone_shared_iso:
 	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -Wl,-rpath=$(SPDK_LIB_DIR),--no-as-needed -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -lspdk_event_bdev \
-	-lspdk_bdev -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_log -lspdk_thread -lspdk_util -lspdk_event -lspdk_env_dpdk -ldpdk
+	-lspdk_event_accel -lspdk_event_vmd -lspdk_bdev -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_log -lspdk_thread -lspdk_util -lspdk_event \
+	-lspdk_env_dpdk -lrte_eal -lrte_mempool -lrte_ring -lrte_mbuf -lrte_mempool_ring -lrte_pci -lrte_bus_pci -lrte_kvargs \
+	-lrte_vhost -lrte_net -lrte_hash -lrte_cryptodev
 
 # Shows how to compile an external application against the SPDK archives.
 alone_static:
-	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -Wl,--whole-archive -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_event_bdev -lspdk_event_accel -lspdk_event_vmd \
+	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -Wl,--whole-archive,-Bstatic -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_event_bdev -lspdk_event_accel -lspdk_event_vmd \
 	-lspdk_event_sock -lspdk_bdev -lspdk_accel -lspdk_event -lspdk_thread -lspdk_util -lspdk_conf -lspdk_trace -lspdk_log -lspdk_json \
 	-lspdk_jsonrpc -lspdk_rpc -lspdk_sock -lspdk_notify -lspdk_vmd -lspdk_env_dpdk -lrte_eal -lrte_mempool -lrte_ring \
 	-lrte_mbuf -lrte_mempool_ring -lrte_pci -lrte_bus_pci -lrte_kvargs -lrte_vhost -lrte_net -lrte_hash -lrte_telemetry \
-	-lrte_cryptodev -Wl,--no-whole-archive -lnuma -luuid -lpthread -ldl -lrt
+	-lrte_cryptodev -Wl,--no-whole-archive,-Bdynamic -lnuma -luuid -lpthread -ldl -lrt
 
 # Shows how to compile and external bdev and application sgainst the SPDK archives.
 bdev_static:
-	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -L../passthru -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -Wl,--whole-archive -lpassthru_external -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_event_bdev \
+	$(CC) $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -L../passthru -o hello_bdev ./hello_bdev.c -Wl,--whole-archive,-Bstatic -lpassthru_external -lspdk_bdev_malloc -lspdk_event_bdev \
 	-lspdk_event_accel -lspdk_event_vmd -lspdk_event_sock -lspdk_bdev -lspdk_accel -lspdk_event -lspdk_thread -lspdk_util -lspdk_conf -lspdk_trace \
 	-lspdk_log -lspdk_json -lspdk_jsonrpc -lspdk_rpc -lspdk_sock -lspdk_notify -lspdk_vmd -lspdk_env_dpdk -lrte_eal -lrte_mempool \
 	-lrte_ring -lrte_mbuf -lrte_mempool_ring -lrte_pci -lrte_bus_pci -lrte_kvargs -lrte_vhost -lrte_net -lrte_hash -lrte_telemetry -lrte_cryptodev \
-	-Wl,--no-whole-archive -lnuma -luuid -lpthread -ldl -lrt
+	-Wl,--no-whole-archive,-Bdynamic -lnuma -luuid -lpthread -ldl -lrt