diff --git a/drivers/bus/fslmc/fslmc_vfio.c b/drivers/bus/fslmc/fslmc_vfio.c
index cb33dd8913..493b6e5be3 100644
--- a/drivers/bus/fslmc/fslmc_vfio.c
+++ b/drivers/bus/fslmc/fslmc_vfio.c
@@ -221,6 +221,13 @@ fslmc_memevent_cb(enum rte_mem_event type, const void *addr, size_t len,
 					"alloc" : "dealloc",
 				va, virt_addr, iova_addr, map_len);
 
+		/* iova_addr may be set to RTE_BAD_IOVA */
+		if (iova_addr == RTE_BAD_IOVA) {
+			DPAA2_BUS_DEBUG("Segment has invalid iova, skipping\n");
+			cur_len += map_len;
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		if (type == RTE_MEM_EVENT_ALLOC)
 			ret = fslmc_map_dma(virt_addr, iova_addr, map_len);
 		else
diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user/virtio_user_dev.c b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user/virtio_user_dev.c
index 55a82e4b0c..a185aed34b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user/virtio_user_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user/virtio_user_dev.c
@@ -301,8 +301,14 @@ virtio_user_mem_event_cb(enum rte_mem_event type __rte_unused,
 						 void *arg)
 {
 	struct virtio_user_dev *dev = arg;
+	struct rte_memseg_list *msl;
 	uint16_t i;
 
+	/* ignore externally allocated memory */
+	msl = rte_mem_virt2memseg_list(addr);
+	if (msl->external)
+		return;
+
 	pthread_mutex_lock(&dev->mutex);
 
 	if (dev->started == false)
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/malloc_heap.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/malloc_heap.c
index adc1669aa3..08ec75377d 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/malloc_heap.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/malloc_heap.c
@@ -1031,6 +1031,9 @@ destroy_seg(struct malloc_elem *elem, size_t len)
 
 	msl = elem->msl;
 
+	/* notify all subscribers that a memory area is going to be removed */
+	eal_memalloc_mem_event_notify(RTE_MEM_EVENT_FREE, elem, len);
+
 	/* this element can be removed */
 	malloc_elem_free_list_remove(elem);
 	malloc_elem_hide_region(elem, elem, len);
@@ -1120,6 +1123,10 @@ malloc_heap_add_external_memory(struct malloc_heap *heap, void *va_addr,
 	RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "Added segment for heap %s starting at %p\n",
 			heap->name, va_addr);
 
+	/* notify all subscribers that a new memory area has been added */
+	eal_memalloc_mem_event_notify(RTE_MEM_EVENT_ALLOC,
+			va_addr, seg_len);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c
index dd00254392..b27a8ad2e2 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <rte_malloc.h>
 #include "malloc_elem.h"
 #include "malloc_heap.h"
+#include "eal_memalloc.h"
 
 
 /* Free the memory space back to heap */
@@ -440,15 +441,29 @@ sync_mem_walk(const struct rte_memseg_list *msl, void *arg)
 		msl_idx = msl - mcfg->memsegs;
 		found_msl = &mcfg->memsegs[msl_idx];
 
-		if (wa->attach)
+		if (wa->attach) {
 			ret = rte_fbarray_attach(&found_msl->memseg_arr);
-		else
+		} else {
+			/* notify all subscribers that a memory area is about to
+			 * be removed
+			 */
+			eal_memalloc_mem_event_notify(RTE_MEM_EVENT_FREE,
+					msl->base_va, msl->len);
 			ret = rte_fbarray_detach(&found_msl->memseg_arr);
+		}
 
-		if (ret < 0)
+		if (ret < 0) {
 			wa->result = -rte_errno;
-		else
+		} else {
+			/* notify all subscribers that a new memory area was
+			 * added
+			 */
+			if (wa->attach)
+				eal_memalloc_mem_event_notify(
+						RTE_MEM_EVENT_ALLOC,
+						msl->base_va, msl->len);
 			wa->result = 0;
+		}
 		return 1;
 	}
 	return 0;
@@ -498,6 +513,10 @@ sync_memory(const char *heap_name, void *va_addr, size_t len, bool attach)
 		rte_errno = -wa.result;
 		ret = -1;
 	} else {
+		/* notify all subscribers that a new memory area was added */
+		if (attach)
+			eal_memalloc_mem_event_notify(RTE_MEM_EVENT_ALLOC,
+					va_addr, len);
 		ret = 0;
 	}
 unlock:
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c
index fddbc3b548..d7268e4ce7 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ vfio_mem_event_callback(enum rte_mem_event type, const void *addr, size_t len,
 	msl = rte_mem_virt2memseg_list(addr);
 
 	/* for IOVA as VA mode, no need to care for IOVA addresses */
-	if (rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA) {
+	if (rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA && msl->external == 0) {
 		uint64_t vfio_va = (uint64_t)(uintptr_t)addr;
 		if (type == RTE_MEM_EVENT_ALLOC)
 			vfio_dma_mem_map(default_vfio_cfg, vfio_va, vfio_va,
@@ -523,13 +523,19 @@ vfio_mem_event_callback(enum rte_mem_event type, const void *addr, size_t len,
 	/* memsegs are contiguous in memory */
 	ms = rte_mem_virt2memseg(addr, msl);
 	while (cur_len < len) {
+		/* some memory segments may have invalid IOVA */
+		if (ms->iova == RTE_BAD_IOVA) {
+			RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "Memory segment at %p has bad IOVA, skipping\n",
+					ms->addr);
+			goto next;
+		}
 		if (type == RTE_MEM_EVENT_ALLOC)
 			vfio_dma_mem_map(default_vfio_cfg, ms->addr_64,
 					ms->iova, ms->len, 1);
 		else
 			vfio_dma_mem_map(default_vfio_cfg, ms->addr_64,
 					ms->iova, ms->len, 0);
-
+next:
 		cur_len += ms->len;
 		++ms;
 	}