diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal.c b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal.c
index b5e755fc8b..7a32794f36 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal.c
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
 #define OPT_SOCKET_MEM  "socket-mem"
 #define OPT_USE_DEVICE  "use-device"
 #define OPT_SYSLOG      "syslog"
+#define OPT_BASE_VIRTADDR   "base-virtaddr"
 
 #define RTE_EAL_BLACKLIST_SIZE	0x100
 
@@ -309,13 +310,13 @@ eal_hugedirs_unlock(void)
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_HUGEPAGE_SIZES; i++)
 	{
 		/* skip uninitialized */
-		if (internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor == 0)
+		if (internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor < 0)
 			continue;
 		/* unlock hugepage file */
 		flock(internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor, LOCK_UN);
 		close(internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor);
 		/* reset the field */
-		internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor = 0;
+		internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor = -1;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -345,6 +346,7 @@ eal_usage(const char *prgname)
 	       "               [NOTE: Cannot be used with -b option]\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_VMWARE_TSC_MAP": use VMware TSC map instead of "
 	    		   "native RDTSC\n"
+	       "  --"OPT_BASE_VIRTADDR": specify base virtual address\n"
 	       "\nEAL options for DEBUG use only:\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_HUGE"  : use malloc instead of hugetlbfs\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_PCI"   : disable pci\n"
@@ -530,6 +532,31 @@ eal_parse_socket_mem(char *socket_mem)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+eal_parse_base_virtaddr(const char *arg)
+{
+	char *end;
+	uint64_t addr;
+
+	addr = strtoull(arg, &end, 16);
+
+	/* check for errors */
+	if ((errno != 0) || (arg[0] == '\0') || end == NULL || (*end != '\0'))
+		return -1;
+
+	/* make sure we don't exceed 32-bit boundary on 32-bit target */
+#ifndef RTE_ARCH_X86_64
+	if (addr >= UINTPTR_MAX)
+		return -1;
+#endif
+
+	/* align the addr on 2M boundary */
+	addr = RTE_PTR_ALIGN_CEIL(addr, RTE_PGSIZE_2M);
+
+	internal_config.base_virtaddr = (uintptr_t) addr;
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static inline size_t
 eal_get_hugepage_mem_size(void)
 {
@@ -599,6 +626,7 @@ eal_parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
 		{OPT_SOCKET_MEM, 1, 0, 0},
 		{OPT_USE_DEVICE, 1, 0, 0},
 		{OPT_SYSLOG, 1, NULL, 0},
+		{OPT_BASE_VIRTADDR, 1, 0, 0},
 		{0, 0, 0, 0}
 	};
 
@@ -622,9 +650,10 @@ eal_parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	/* zero out hugedir descriptors */
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_HUGEPAGE_SIZES; i++)
-		internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor = 0;
+		internal_config.hugepage_info[i].lock_descriptor = -1;
 
 	internal_config.vmware_tsc_map = 0;
+	internal_config.base_virtaddr = 0;
 
 	while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argvopt, "b:c:m:n:r:v",
 				  lgopts, &option_index)) != EOF) {
@@ -725,6 +754,14 @@ eal_parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
 					return -1;
 				}
 			}
+			else if (!strcmp(lgopts[option_index].name, OPT_BASE_VIRTADDR)) {
+				if (eal_parse_base_virtaddr(optarg) < 0) {
+					RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "invalid parameter for --"
+							OPT_BASE_VIRTADDR "\n");
+					eal_usage(prgname);
+					return -1;
+				}
+			}
 			break;
 
 		default:
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
index 4bd8987cab..2eb4617546 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@
  * zone as well as a physical contiguous zone.
  */
 
+static uint64_t baseaddr_offset;
 
 #define RANDOMIZE_VA_SPACE_FILE "/proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space"
 
@@ -156,7 +157,13 @@ get_virtual_area(size_t *size, size_t hugepage_sz)
 	int fd;
 	long aligned_addr;
 
-	RTE_LOG(INFO, EAL, "Ask a virtual area of 0x%zu bytes\n", *size);
+	if (internal_config.base_virtaddr != 0) {
+		addr = (void*) (uintptr_t) (internal_config.base_virtaddr +
+				baseaddr_offset);
+	}
+	else addr = NULL;
+
+	RTE_LOG(INFO, EAL, "Ask a virtual area of 0x%zx bytes\n", *size);
 
 	fd = open("/dev/zero", O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0){
@@ -164,7 +171,8 @@ get_virtual_area(size_t *size, size_t hugepage_sz)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	do {
-		addr = mmap(NULL, (*size) + hugepage_sz, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0);
+		addr = mmap(addr,
+				(*size) + hugepage_sz, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0);
 		if (addr == MAP_FAILED)
 			*size -= hugepage_sz;
 	} while (addr == MAP_FAILED && *size > 0);
@@ -187,6 +195,9 @@ get_virtual_area(size_t *size, size_t hugepage_sz)
 	RTE_LOG(INFO, EAL, "Virtual area found at %p (size = 0x%zx)\n",
 		addr, *size);
 
+	/* increment offset */
+	baseaddr_offset += *size;
+
 	return addr;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/include/eal_internal_cfg.h b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/include/eal_internal_cfg.h
index 5cacfdc149..0a2eddda5e 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/include/eal_internal_cfg.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/include/eal_internal_cfg.h
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ struct internal_config {
 	volatile enum rte_proc_type_t process_type; /* multi-process proc type */
 	/* true to try allocating memory on specific sockets */
 	volatile unsigned force_sockets;
-	volatile uint64_t socket_mem[RTE_MAX_NUMA_NODES]; /**< amount of memory per socket*/
+	volatile uint64_t socket_mem[RTE_MAX_NUMA_NODES]; /**< amount of memory per socket */
+	uintptr_t base_virtaddr;          /**< base address to try and reserve memory from */
 	volatile int syslog_facility;	  /**< facility passed to openlog() */
 	const char *hugefile_prefix;      /**< the base filename of hugetlbfs files */
 	const char *hugepage_dir;         /**< specific hugetlbfs directory to use */