diff --git a/buildtools/subproject/meson.build b/buildtools/subproject/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3192efaa40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildtools/subproject/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+# Copyright(c) 2022 Intel Corporation
+
+message('DPDK subproject linking: ' + get_option('default_library'))
+if get_option('default_library') == 'static'
+    dpdk_dep = declare_dependency(
+            version: meson.project_version(),
+            dependencies: dpdk_static_lib_deps,
+            # static library deps in DPDK build don't include "link_with" parameters,
+            # so explicitly link-in both libs and drivers
+            link_with: dpdk_static_libraries,
+            link_whole: dpdk_drivers,
+            link_args: dpdk_extra_ldflags)
+else
+    dpdk_dep = declare_dependency(
+            version: meson.project_version(),
+            # shared library deps include all necessary linking parameters
+            dependencies: dpdk_shared_lib_deps)
+endif
+
+libdpdk_dep = dpdk_dep
diff --git a/drivers/meson.build b/drivers/meson.build
index 4daa2658b7..b22c2adda7 100644
--- a/drivers/meson.build
+++ b/drivers/meson.build
@@ -246,6 +246,10 @@ foreach subpath:subdirs
 
         set_variable('shared_@0@'.format(lib_name), shared_dep)
         set_variable('static_@0@'.format(lib_name), static_dep)
+        # for drivers, we only need to add dependency objects for static libs,
+        # shared lib drivers are not linked in
+        dpdk_static_lib_deps += static_dep
+
         dependency_name = ''.join(lib_name.split('rte_'))
         if testpmd_sources.length() != 0
             testpmd_drivers_sources += testpmd_sources
diff --git a/lib/meson.build b/lib/meson.build
index 24adbe44c9..c648f7d800 100644
--- a/lib/meson.build
+++ b/lib/meson.build
@@ -266,6 +266,8 @@ foreach l:libraries
 
     set_variable('shared_rte_' + name, shared_dep)
     set_variable('static_rte_' + name, static_dep)
+    dpdk_shared_lib_deps += shared_dep
+    dpdk_static_lib_deps += static_dep
     if developer_mode
         message('lib/@0@: Defining dependency "@1@"'.format(l, name))
     endif
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 5561171617..987c2f4999 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ dpdk_build_root = meson.current_build_dir()
 dpdk_conf = configuration_data()
 dpdk_libraries = []
 dpdk_static_libraries = []
+dpdk_shared_lib_deps = []
+dpdk_static_lib_deps = []
 dpdk_chkinc_headers = []
 dpdk_driver_classes = []
 dpdk_drivers = []
@@ -105,6 +107,10 @@ configure_file(output: build_cfg,
 # build pkg-config files for dpdk
 subdir('buildtools/pkg-config')
 
+if meson.is_subproject()
+    subdir('buildtools/subproject')
+endif
+
 # final output, list all the libs and drivers to be built
 # this does not affect any part of the build, for information only.
 output_message = '\n=================\nLibraries Enabled\n=================\n'