diff --git a/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost.h b/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost.h
index 6f9e9a436..d738dba7f 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost.h
+++ b/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost.h
@@ -167,6 +167,13 @@ struct guest_page {
 	uint64_t size;
 };
 
+/* struct ether_addr was renamed to struct rte_ether_addr at one point */
+#ifdef RTE_ETHER_ADDR_LEN
+struct ether_addr {
+	uint8_t addr_bytes[RTE_ETHER_ADDR_LEN];
+} __attribute__((__packed__));
+#endif
+
 /**
  * Device structure contains all configuration information relating
  * to the device.