diff --git a/app/test/test_eal_flags.c b/app/test/test_eal_flags.c
index 2d7f726813..c9ca613af1 100644
--- a/app/test/test_eal_flags.c
+++ b/app/test/test_eal_flags.c
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ test_invalid_r_flag(void)
 }
 
 /*
- * Test that the app doesn't run without the coremask flag. In all cases
+ * Test that the app doesn't run without the coremask/corelist flags. In all cases
  * should give an error and fail to run
  */
 static int
@@ -512,12 +512,22 @@ test_missing_c_flag(void)
 
 	/* -c flag but no coremask value */
 	const char *argv1[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-c"};
-	/* No -c flag at all */
+	/* No -c or -l flag at all */
 	const char *argv2[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3"};
 	/* bad coremask value */
 	const char *argv3[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-c", "error" };
 	/* sanity check of tests - valid coremask value */
 	const char *argv4[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-c", "1" };
+	/* -l flag but no corelist value */
+	const char *argv5[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-l"};
+	const char *argv6[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-l", " " };
+	/* bad corelist values */
+	const char *argv7[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-l", "error" };
+	const char *argv8[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-l", "1-" };
+	const char *argv9[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-l", "1," };
+	const char *argv10[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-l", "1#2" };
+	/* sanity check test - valid corelist value */
+	const char *argv11[] = { prgname, prefix, mp_flag, "-n", "3", "-l", "1-2,3" };
 
 	if (launch_proc(argv1) == 0
 			|| launch_proc(argv2) == 0
@@ -529,6 +539,20 @@ test_missing_c_flag(void)
 		printf("Error - process did not run ok with valid coremask value\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
+
+	if (launch_proc(argv5) == 0
+			|| launch_proc(argv6) == 0
+			|| launch_proc(argv7) == 0
+			|| launch_proc(argv8) == 0
+			|| launch_proc(argv9) == 0
+			|| launch_proc(argv10) == 0) {
+		printf("Error - process ran without error with invalid -l flag\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+	if (launch_proc(argv11) != 0) {
+		printf("Error - process did not run ok with valid corelist value\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
index 63710b0923..18d03e3187 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <syslog.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
@@ -55,8 +56,9 @@ const char
 eal_short_options[] =
 	"b:" /* pci-blacklist */
 	"w:" /* pci-whitelist */
-	"c:"
+	"c:" /* coremask */
 	"d:"
+	"l:" /* corelist */
 	"m:"
 	"n:"
 	"r:"
@@ -204,6 +206,67 @@ eal_parse_coremask(const char *coremask)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+eal_parse_corelist(const char *corelist)
+{
+	struct rte_config *cfg = rte_eal_get_configuration();
+	int i, idx = 0;
+	unsigned count = 0;
+	char *end = NULL;
+	int min, max;
+
+	if (corelist == NULL)
+		return -1;
+
+	/* Remove all blank characters ahead and after */
+	while (isblank(*corelist))
+		corelist++;
+	i = strnlen(corelist, sysconf(_SC_ARG_MAX));
+	while ((i > 0) && isblank(corelist[i - 1]))
+		i--;
+
+	/* Reset core roles */
+	for (idx = 0; idx < RTE_MAX_LCORE; idx++)
+		cfg->lcore_role[idx] = ROLE_OFF;
+
+	/* Get list of cores */
+	min = RTE_MAX_LCORE;
+	do {
+		while (isblank(*corelist))
+			corelist++;
+		if (*corelist == '\0')
+			return -1;
+		errno = 0;
+		idx = strtoul(corelist, &end, 10);
+		if (errno || end == NULL)
+			return -1;
+		while (isblank(*end))
+			end++;
+		if (*end == '-') {
+			min = idx;
+		} else if ((*end == ',') || (*end == '\0')) {
+			max = idx;
+			if (min == RTE_MAX_LCORE)
+				min = idx;
+			for (idx = min; idx <= max; idx++) {
+				cfg->lcore_role[idx] = ROLE_RTE;
+				if (count == 0)
+					cfg->master_lcore = idx;
+				count++;
+			}
+			min = RTE_MAX_LCORE;
+		} else
+			return -1;
+		corelist = end + 1;
+	} while (*end != '\0');
+
+	if (count == 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	lcores_parsed = 1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int
 eal_parse_syslog(const char *facility, struct internal_config *conf)
 {
@@ -304,6 +367,13 @@ eal_parse_common_option(int opt, const char *optarg,
 			return -1;
 		}
 		break;
+	/* corelist */
+	case 'l':
+		if (eal_parse_corelist(optarg) < 0) {
+			RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "invalid core list\n");
+			return -1;
+		}
+		break;
 	/* size of memory */
 	case 'm':
 		conf->memory = atoi(optarg);
@@ -421,8 +491,8 @@ eal_check_common_options(struct internal_config *internal_cfg)
 	struct rte_config *cfg = rte_eal_get_configuration();
 
 	if (!lcores_parsed) {
-		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "CPU cores must be enabled with option "
-			"-c\n");
+		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "CPU cores must be enabled with options "
+			"-c or -l\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -470,6 +540,9 @@ eal_common_usage(void)
 	       "[--proc-type primary|secondary|auto]\n\n"
 	       "EAL common options:\n"
 	       "  -c COREMASK  : A hexadecimal bitmask of cores to run on\n"
+	       "  -l CORELIST  : List of cores to run on\n"
+	       "                 The argument format is <c1>[-c2][,c3[-c4],...]\n"
+	       "                 where c1, c2, etc are core indexes between 0 and %d\n"
 	       "  -n NUM       : Number of memory channels\n"
 	       "  -v           : Display version information on startup\n"
 	       "  -m MB        : memory to allocate (see also --"OPT_SOCKET_MEM")\n"
@@ -494,5 +567,5 @@ eal_common_usage(void)
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_PCI"   : disable pci\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_HPET"  : disable hpet\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_SHCONF": no shared config (mmap'd files)\n"
-	       "\n");
+	       "\n", RTE_MAX_LCORE);
 }