diff --git a/app/test-pmd/bpf_cmd.c b/app/test-pmd/bpf_cmd.c
index 584fad908c..830bfc13a5 100644
--- a/app/test-pmd/bpf_cmd.c
+++ b/app/test-pmd/bpf_cmd.c
@@ -19,12 +19,35 @@ static const struct rte_bpf_xsym bpf_xsym[] = {
 	{
 		.name = RTE_STR(stdout),
 		.type = RTE_BPF_XTYPE_VAR,
-		.var = &stdout,
+		.var = {
+			.val = &stdout,
+			.desc = {
+				.type = RTE_BPF_ARG_PTR,
+				.size = sizeof(stdout),
+			},
+		},
 	},
 	{
 		.name = RTE_STR(rte_pktmbuf_dump),
 		.type = RTE_BPF_XTYPE_FUNC,
-		.func = (void *)rte_pktmbuf_dump,
+		.func = {
+			.val = (void *)rte_pktmbuf_dump,
+			.nb_args = 3,
+			.args = {
+				[0] = {
+					.type = RTE_BPF_ARG_RAW,
+					.size = sizeof(uintptr_t),
+				},
+				[1] = {
+					.type = RTE_BPF_ARG_PTR_MBUF,
+					.size = sizeof(struct rte_mbuf),
+				},
+				[2] = {
+					.type = RTE_BPF_ARG_RAW,
+					.size = sizeof(uint32_t),
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	},
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_def.h b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_def.h
index 6b69de3456..c10f3aec46 100644
--- a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_def.h
+++ b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_def.h
@@ -131,6 +131,11 @@ struct ebpf_insn {
 	int32_t imm;
 };
 
+/*
+ * eBPF allows functions with R1-R5 as arguments.
+ */
+#define	EBPF_FUNC_MAX_ARGS	(EBPF_REG_6 - EBPF_REG_1)
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_exec.c b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_exec.c
index e373b1f3dc..6a79139c0d 100644
--- a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_exec.c
+++ b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_exec.c
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ bpf_exec(const struct rte_bpf *bpf, uint64_t reg[EBPF_REG_NUM])
 			break;
 		/* call instructions */
 		case (BPF_JMP | EBPF_CALL):
-			reg[EBPF_REG_0] = bpf->prm.xsym[ins->imm].func(
+			reg[EBPF_REG_0] = bpf->prm.xsym[ins->imm].func.val(
 				reg[EBPF_REG_1], reg[EBPF_REG_2],
 				reg[EBPF_REG_3], reg[EBPF_REG_4],
 				reg[EBPF_REG_5]);
diff --git a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_impl.h b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_impl.h
index 5d7e65c310..b577e2cbe9 100644
--- a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_impl.h
+++ b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_impl.h
@@ -34,6 +34,20 @@ extern int rte_bpf_logtype;
 #define	RTE_BPF_LOG(lvl, fmt, args...) \
 	rte_log(RTE_LOG_## lvl, rte_bpf_logtype, fmt, ##args)
 
+static inline size_t
+bpf_size(uint32_t bpf_op_sz)
+{
+	if (bpf_op_sz == BPF_B)
+		return sizeof(uint8_t);
+	else if (bpf_op_sz == BPF_H)
+		return sizeof(uint16_t);
+	else if (bpf_op_sz == BPF_W)
+		return sizeof(uint32_t);
+	else if (bpf_op_sz == EBPF_DW)
+		return sizeof(uint64_t);
+	return 0;
+}
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_jit_x86.c b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_jit_x86.c
index 111e028d21..68ea389f23 100644
--- a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_jit_x86.c
+++ b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_jit_x86.c
@@ -113,20 +113,6 @@ union bpf_jit_imm {
 	uint8_t u8[4];
 };
 
-static size_t
-bpf_size(uint32_t bpf_op_sz)
-{
-	if (bpf_op_sz == BPF_B)
-		return sizeof(uint8_t);
-	else if (bpf_op_sz == BPF_H)
-		return sizeof(uint16_t);
-	else if (bpf_op_sz == BPF_W)
-		return sizeof(uint32_t);
-	else if (bpf_op_sz == EBPF_DW)
-		return sizeof(uint64_t);
-	return 0;
-}
-
 /*
  * In many cases for imm8 we can produce shorter code.
  */
@@ -1294,7 +1280,8 @@ emit(struct bpf_jit_state *st, const struct rte_bpf *bpf)
 			break;
 		/* call instructions */
 		case (BPF_JMP | EBPF_CALL):
-			emit_call(st, (uintptr_t)bpf->prm.xsym[ins->imm].func);
+			emit_call(st,
+				(uintptr_t)bpf->prm.xsym[ins->imm].func.val);
 			break;
 		/* return instruction */
 		case (BPF_JMP | EBPF_EXIT):
diff --git a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load.c b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load.c
index d1c9abd7f0..2b84fe7244 100644
--- a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load.c
+++ b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load.c
@@ -51,17 +51,64 @@ bpf_load(const struct rte_bpf_prm *prm)
 	return bpf;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Check that user provided external symbol.
+ */
+static int
+bpf_check_xsym(const struct rte_bpf_xsym *xsym)
+{
+	uint32_t i;
+
+	if (xsym->name == NULL)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	if (xsym->type == RTE_BPF_XTYPE_VAR) {
+		if (xsym->var.desc.type == RTE_BPF_ARG_UNDEF)
+			return -EINVAL;
+	} else if (xsym->type == RTE_BPF_XTYPE_FUNC) {
+
+		if (xsym->func.nb_args > EBPF_FUNC_MAX_ARGS)
+			return -EINVAL;
+
+		/* check function arguments */
+		for (i = 0; i != xsym->func.nb_args; i++) {
+			if (xsym->func.args[i].type == RTE_BPF_ARG_UNDEF)
+				return -EINVAL;
+		}
+
+		/* check return value info */
+		if (xsym->func.ret.type != RTE_BPF_ARG_UNDEF &&
+				xsym->func.ret.size == 0)
+			return -EINVAL;
+	} else
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 __rte_experimental struct rte_bpf *
 rte_bpf_load(const struct rte_bpf_prm *prm)
 {
 	struct rte_bpf *bpf;
 	int32_t rc;
+	uint32_t i;
 
-	if (prm == NULL || prm->ins == NULL) {
+	if (prm == NULL || prm->ins == NULL ||
+			(prm->nb_xsym != 0 && prm->xsym == NULL)) {
 		rte_errno = EINVAL;
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
+	rc = 0;
+	for (i = 0; i != prm->nb_xsym && rc == 0; i++)
+		rc = bpf_check_xsym(prm->xsym + i);
+
+	if (rc != 0) {
+		rte_errno = -rc;
+		RTE_BPF_LOG(ERR, "%s: %d-th xsym is invalid\n", __func__, i);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	bpf = bpf_load(prm);
 	if (bpf == NULL) {
 		rte_errno = ENOMEM;
diff --git a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load_elf.c b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load_elf.c
index 6ab03d86e3..96d3630fe7 100644
--- a/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load_elf.c
+++ b/lib/librte_bpf/bpf_load_elf.c
@@ -81,9 +81,9 @@ resolve_xsym(const char *sn, size_t ofs, struct ebpf_insn *ins, size_t ins_sz,
 		ins[idx].imm = fidx;
 	/* for variable we need to store its absolute address */
 	else {
-		ins[idx].imm = (uintptr_t)prm->xsym[fidx].var;
+		ins[idx].imm = (uintptr_t)prm->xsym[fidx].var.val;
 		ins[idx + 1].imm =
-			(uint64_t)(uintptr_t)prm->xsym[fidx].var >> 32;
+			(uint64_t)(uintptr_t)prm->xsym[fidx].var.val >> 32;
 	}
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/lib/librte_bpf/rte_bpf.h b/lib/librte_bpf/rte_bpf.h
index 1249a992c5..ad62ef2c65 100644
--- a/lib/librte_bpf/rte_bpf.h
+++ b/lib/librte_bpf/rte_bpf.h
@@ -40,7 +40,11 @@ enum rte_bpf_arg_type {
  */
 struct rte_bpf_arg {
 	enum rte_bpf_arg_type type;
-	size_t size;     /**< for pointer types, size of data it points to */
+	/**
+	 * for ptr type - max size of data buffer it points to
+	 * for raw type - the size (in bytes) of the value
+	 */
+	size_t size;
 	size_t buf_size;
 	/**< for mbuf ptr type, max size of rte_mbuf data buffer */
 };
@@ -66,10 +70,19 @@ struct rte_bpf_xsym {
 	const char *name;        /**< name */
 	enum rte_bpf_xtype type; /**< type */
 	union {
-		uint64_t (*func)(uint64_t, uint64_t, uint64_t,
+		struct {
+			uint64_t (*val)(uint64_t, uint64_t, uint64_t,
 				uint64_t, uint64_t);
-		void *var;
-	}; /**< value */
+			uint32_t nb_args;
+			struct rte_bpf_arg args[EBPF_FUNC_MAX_ARGS];
+			/**< Function arguments descriptions. */
+			struct rte_bpf_arg ret; /**< function return value. */
+		} func;
+		struct {
+			void *val; /**< actual memory location */
+			struct rte_bpf_arg desc; /**< type, size, etc. */
+		} var; /**< external variable */
+	};
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/test/test_bpf.c b/test/test/test_bpf.c
index cbd6be63d7..1e9caef95a 100644
--- a/test/test/test_bpf.c
+++ b/test/test/test_bpf.c
@@ -1530,7 +1530,24 @@ static const struct rte_bpf_xsym test_call1_xsym[] = {
 	{
 		.name = RTE_STR(dummy_func1),
 		.type = RTE_BPF_XTYPE_FUNC,
-		.func = (void *)dummy_func1,
+		.func = {
+			.val = (void *)dummy_func1,
+			.nb_args = 3,
+			.args = {
+				[0] = {
+					.type = RTE_BPF_ARG_PTR,
+					.size = sizeof(struct dummy_offset),
+				},
+				[1] = {
+					.type = RTE_BPF_ARG_PTR,
+					.size = sizeof(uint32_t),
+				},
+				[2] = {
+					.type = RTE_BPF_ARG_PTR,
+					.size = sizeof(uint64_t),
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	},
 };