diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/kni/compat.h b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/kni/compat.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d87421b28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/kni/compat.h
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+/*
+ * Minimal wrappers to allow compiling kni on older kernels.
+ */
+
+#ifndef RHEL_RELEASE_VERSION
+#define RHEL_RELEASE_VERSION(a, b) (((a) << 8) + (b))
+#endif
+
+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2, 6, 39) && \
+	(!(defined(RHEL_RELEASE_CODE) && \
+	   RHEL_RELEASE_CODE >= RHEL_RELEASE_VERSION(6, 4)))
+
+#define kstrtoul strict_strtoul
+
+#endif /* < 2.6.39 */
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/kni/kni_vhost.c b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/kni/kni_vhost.c
index 7bcc985799..c05c8680ca 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/kni/kni_vhost.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/kni/kni_vhost.c
@@ -740,7 +740,7 @@ set_sock_en(struct device *dev, struct device_attribute *attr,
 	unsigned long en;
 	int err = 0;
 
-	if (0 != strict_strtoul(buf, 0, &en))
+	if (0 != kstrtoul(buf, 0, &en))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	if (en)