diff --git a/lib/librte_ether/rte_ethdev.h b/lib/librte_ether/rte_ethdev.h
index dea7471d71..ed1e40fc10 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ether/rte_ethdev.h
+++ b/lib/librte_ether/rte_ethdev.h
@@ -1324,15 +1324,6 @@ extern void rte_eth_driver_register(struct eth_driver *eth_drv);
  */
 extern int rte_igb_pmd_init(void);
 
-/**
- * The initialization function of the driver for
- * Intel(r) EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller devices.
- * This function is invoked once at EAL start time.
- * @return
- *   0 on success
- */
-extern int rte_em_pmd_init(void);
-
 /**
  * The initialization function of the driver for 1Gbps Intel IGB_VF
  * Ethernet devices.
@@ -1412,13 +1403,6 @@ int rte_pmd_init_all(void)
 	}
 #endif /* RTE_LIBRTE_IGB_PMD */
 
-#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_EM_PMD
-	if ((ret = rte_em_pmd_init()) != 0) {
-		RTE_LOG(ERR, PMD, "Cannot init em PMD\n");
-		return (ret);
-	}
-#endif /* RTE_LIBRTE_EM_PMD */
-
 #ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_IXGBE_PMD
 	if ((ret = rte_ixgbe_pmd_init()) != 0) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, PMD, "Cannot init ixgbe PMD\n");
diff --git a/lib/librte_pmd_e1000/em_ethdev.c b/lib/librte_pmd_e1000/em_ethdev.c
index 755e4747ce..493806c7c5 100644
--- a/lib/librte_pmd_e1000/em_ethdev.c
+++ b/lib/librte_pmd_e1000/em_ethdev.c
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 #include <rte_eal.h>
 #include <rte_atomic.h>
 #include <rte_malloc.h>
+#include <rte_dev.h>
 
 #include "e1000_logs.h"
 #include "e1000/e1000_api.h"
@@ -285,8 +286,8 @@ static struct eth_driver rte_em_pmd = {
 	.dev_private_size = sizeof(struct e1000_adapter),
 };
 
-int
-rte_em_pmd_init(void)
+static int
+rte_em_pmd_init(const char *name __rte_unused, const char *params __rte_unused)
 {
 	rte_eth_driver_register(&rte_em_pmd);
 	return 0;
@@ -1433,3 +1434,10 @@ eth_em_rar_clear(struct rte_eth_dev *dev, uint32_t index)
 
 	e1000_rar_set(hw, addr, index);
 }
+
+struct rte_driver em_pmd_drv = {
+	.type = PMD_PDEV,
+	.init = rte_em_pmd_init,
+};
+
+PMD_REGISTER_DRIVER(em_pmd_drv);
diff --git a/mk/rte.app.mk b/mk/rte.app.mk
index 8758fbf9e9..12876ed60d 100644
--- a/mk/rte.app.mk
+++ b/mk/rte.app.mk
@@ -73,10 +73,6 @@ LDLIBS += -lrte_ivshmem
 endif
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_E1000_PMD),y)
-LDLIBS += -lrte_pmd_e1000
-endif
-
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_IXGBE_PMD),y)
 LDLIBS += -lrte_pmd_ixgbe
 endif
@@ -169,6 +165,10 @@ endif
 
 ifeq ($(RTE_BUILD_SHARED_LIB),n)
 
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_E1000_PMD),y)
+LDLIBS += -lrte_pmd_e1000
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PMD_RING),y)
 LDLIBS += -lrte_pmd_ring
 endif