diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
index c614477bc1..79db608bb4 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ eal_long_options[] = {
 	{OPT_FILE_PREFIX,       1, NULL, OPT_FILE_PREFIX_NUM      },
 	{OPT_HELP,              0, NULL, OPT_HELP_NUM             },
 	{OPT_HUGE_DIR,          1, NULL, OPT_HUGE_DIR_NUM         },
+	{OPT_HUGE_UNLINK,       0, NULL, OPT_HUGE_UNLINK_NUM      },
 	{OPT_LCORES,            1, NULL, OPT_LCORES_NUM           },
 	{OPT_LOG_LEVEL,         1, NULL, OPT_LOG_LEVEL_NUM        },
 	{OPT_MASTER_LCORE,      1, NULL, OPT_MASTER_LCORE_NUM     },
@@ -714,6 +715,10 @@ eal_parse_common_option(int opt, const char *optarg,
 		break;
 
 	/* long options */
+	case OPT_HUGE_UNLINK_NUM:
+		conf->hugepage_unlink = 1;
+		break;
+
 	case OPT_NO_HUGE_NUM:
 		conf->no_hugetlbfs = 1;
 		break;
@@ -841,6 +846,12 @@ eal_check_common_options(struct internal_config *internal_cfg)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	if (internal_cfg->no_hugetlbfs && internal_cfg->hugepage_unlink) {
+		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Option --"OPT_HUGE_UNLINK" cannot "
+			"be specified together with --"OPT_NO_HUGE"\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	if (rte_eal_devargs_type_count(RTE_DEVTYPE_WHITELISTED_PCI) != 0 &&
 		rte_eal_devargs_type_count(RTE_DEVTYPE_BLACKLISTED_PCI) != 0) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Options blacklist (-b) and whitelist (-w) "
@@ -890,6 +901,7 @@ eal_common_usage(void)
 	       "  -v                  Display version information on startup\n"
 	       "  -h, --help          This help\n"
 	       "\nEAL options for DEBUG use only:\n"
+	       "  --"OPT_HUGE_UNLINK"       Unlink hugepage files after init\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_HUGE"           Use malloc instead of hugetlbfs\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_PCI"            Disable PCI\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_HPET"           Disable HPET\n"
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
index e2ecb0d0f0..6d071c771e 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ struct internal_config {
 	volatile unsigned force_nchannel; /**< force number of channels */
 	volatile unsigned force_nrank;    /**< force number of ranks */
 	volatile unsigned no_hugetlbfs;   /**< true to disable hugetlbfs */
+	unsigned hugepage_unlink;         /** < true to unlink backing files */
 	volatile unsigned xen_dom0_support; /**< support app running on Xen Dom0*/
 	volatile unsigned no_pci;         /**< true to disable PCI */
 	volatile unsigned no_hpet;        /**< true to disable HPET */
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h
index f6714d90c3..4245fd5398 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ enum {
 	OPT_FILE_PREFIX_NUM,
 #define OPT_HUGE_DIR          "huge-dir"
 	OPT_HUGE_DIR_NUM,
+#define OPT_HUGE_UNLINK       "huge-unlink"
+	OPT_HUGE_UNLINK_NUM,
 #define OPT_LCORES            "lcores"
 	OPT_LCORES_NUM,
 #define OPT_LOG_LEVEL         "log-level"
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
index ac2745ec6b..657d19f12c 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
@@ -786,6 +786,30 @@ copy_hugepages_to_shared_mem(struct hugepage_file * dst, int dest_size,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+unlink_hugepage_files(struct hugepage_file *hugepg_tbl,
+		unsigned num_hp_info)
+{
+	unsigned socket, size;
+	int page, nrpages = 0;
+
+	/* get total number of hugepages */
+	for (size = 0; size < num_hp_info; size++)
+		for (socket = 0; socket < RTE_MAX_NUMA_NODES; socket++)
+			nrpages +=
+			internal_config.hugepage_info[size].num_pages[socket];
+
+	for (page = 0; page < nrpages; page++) {
+		struct hugepage_file *hp = &hugepg_tbl[page];
+
+		if (hp->final_va != NULL && unlink(hp->filepath)) {
+			RTE_LOG(WARNING, EAL, "%s(): Removing %s failed: %s\n",
+				__func__, hp->filepath, strerror(errno));
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /*
  * unmaps hugepages that are not going to be used. since we originally allocate
  * ALL hugepages (not just those we need), additional unmapping needs to be done.
@@ -1289,6 +1313,13 @@ rte_eal_hugepage_init(void)
 		goto fail;
 	}
 
+	/* free the hugepage backing files */
+	if (internal_config.hugepage_unlink &&
+		unlink_hugepage_files(tmp_hp, internal_config.num_hugepage_sizes) < 0) {
+		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Unlinking hugepage files failed!\n");
+		goto fail;
+	}
+
 	/* free the temporary hugepage table */
 	free(tmp_hp);
 	tmp_hp = NULL;