diff --git a/lib/env_dpdk/init.c b/lib/env_dpdk/init.c
index f5858e44b..4a274328b 100644
--- a/lib/env_dpdk/init.c
+++ b/lib/env_dpdk/init.c
@@ -258,6 +258,14 @@ spdk_build_eal_cmdline(const struct spdk_env_opts *opts)
 		}
 	}
 
+#if RTE_VERSION >= RTE_VERSION_NUM(18, 05, 0, 0)
+	/* SPDK holds off with using the new memory management model just yet */
+	args = spdk_push_arg(args, &argcount, _sprintf_alloc("--legacy-mem"));
+	if (args == NULL) {
+		return -1;
+	}
+#endif
+
 	if (opts->num_pci_addr) {
 		size_t i;
 		char bdf[32];