diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/mvpp2.rst b/doc/guides/nics/mvpp2.rst
index 5b22cf3ff9..f72e251969 100644
--- a/doc/guides/nics/mvpp2.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/mvpp2.rst
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ Configuration syntax
    offset = <offset>
 
    [port <portnum> default]
-   dsa_mode = <dsa_mode>
+   start_hdr = <start_hdr>
    default_tc = <default_tc>
    mapping_priority = <mapping_priority>
 
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ Where:
 
 - ``<portnum>``: DPDK Port number (0..n).
 
-- ``<dsa_mode>``: Indicate what is the dsa header mode (`none`, `dsa`, or `ext_dsa`).
+- ``<start_hdr>``: Indicate what is the start header mode (`none` (eth), `dsa`, or `ext_dsa`).
 
 - ``<default_tc>``: Default traffic class (e.g. 0)
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/mvpp2/mrvl_qos.c b/drivers/net/mvpp2/mrvl_qos.c
index a3add540b8..e420c0cbc5 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mvpp2/mrvl_qos.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mvpp2/mrvl_qos.c
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@
 /* Parsing tokens. Defined conveniently, so that any correction is easy. */
 #define MRVL_TOK_DEFAULT "default"
 #define MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE "dsa_mode"
-#define MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_NONE "none"
-#define MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_DSA "dsa"
-#define MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_EXT_DSA "ext_dsa"
+#define MRVL_TOK_START_HDR "start_hdr"
+#define MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_NONE "none"
+#define MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_DSA "dsa"
+#define MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_EXT_DSA "ext_dsa"
 #define MRVL_TOK_DEFAULT_TC "default_tc"
 #define MRVL_TOK_DSCP "dscp"
 #define MRVL_TOK_MAPPING_PRIORITY "mapping_priority"
@@ -722,25 +723,33 @@ mrvl_get_cfg(const char *key __rte_unused, const char *path, void *extra_args)
 			continue;
 		}
 
+		/* MRVL_TOK_START_HDR replaces MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE parameter.
+		 * MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE will be supported for backward
+		 * compatibillity.
+		 */
 		entry = rte_cfgfile_get_entry(file, sec_name,
+				MRVL_TOK_START_HDR);
+		/* if start_hsr is missing, check if dsa_mode exist instead */
+		if (entry == NULL)
+			entry = rte_cfgfile_get_entry(file, sec_name,
 				MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE);
 		if (entry) {
-			if (!strncmp(entry, MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_NONE,
-				sizeof(MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_NONE)))
+			if (!strncmp(entry, MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_NONE,
+				sizeof(MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_NONE)))
 				(*cfg)->port[n].eth_start_hdr =
 				PP2_PPIO_HDR_ETH;
-			else if (!strncmp(entry, MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_DSA,
-				sizeof(MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_DSA)))
+			else if (!strncmp(entry, MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_DSA,
+				sizeof(MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_DSA)))
 				(*cfg)->port[n].eth_start_hdr =
 				PP2_PPIO_HDR_ETH_DSA;
-			else if (!strncmp(entry, MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_EXT_DSA,
-				sizeof(MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE_EXT_DSA))) {
+			else if (!strncmp(entry, MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_EXT_DSA,
+				sizeof(MRVL_TOK_START_HDR_EXT_DSA))) {
 				(*cfg)->port[n].eth_start_hdr =
 				PP2_PPIO_HDR_ETH_EXT_DSA;
 			} else {
 				MRVL_LOG(ERR,
 					"Error in parsing %s value (%s)!\n",
-					MRVL_TOK_DSA_MODE, entry);
+					MRVL_TOK_START_HDR, entry);
 				return -1;
 			}
 		} else {