diff --git a/buildtools/options-ibverbs-static.sh b/buildtools/options-ibverbs-static.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..0f285a343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildtools/options-ibverbs-static.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+#
+# Print link options -l for static link of ibverbs.
+#
+# Static flavour of ibverbs and the providers libs are explicitly picked,
+# thanks to the syntax -l:libfoo.a
+# Other libs (pthread and nl) are unchanged, i.e. linked dynamically by default.
+#
+# PKG_CONFIG_PATH may be required to be set if libibverbs.pc is not installed.
+
+pkg-config --libs-only-l --static libibverbs |
+	tr '[:space:]' '\n' |
+	sed -r '/^-l(pthread|nl)/! s,(^-l)(.*),\1:lib\2.a,'
diff --git a/config/common_base b/config/common_base
index 37f692ce1..f6e5a5396 100644
--- a/config/common_base
+++ b/config/common_base
@@ -330,8 +330,9 @@ CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG=n
 
 # Linking method for mlx4/5 dependency on ibverbs and related libraries
 # Default linking is dynamic by linker.
-# Other option is dynamic by dlopen at run-time.
+# Other options are: dynamic by dlopen at run-time, or statically embedded.
 CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_DLOPEN=n
+CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_STATIC=n
 
 #
 # Compile burst-oriented Netronome NFP PMD driver
diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst b/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst
index 88d467a23..4d4842cde 100644
--- a/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst
@@ -79,6 +79,11 @@ These options can be modified in the ``.config`` file.
 
   This option has no performance impact.
 
+- ``CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_STATIC`` (default **n**)
+
+  Embed static flavour of the dependencies **libibverbs** and **libmlx4**
+  in the PMD shared library or the executable static binary.
+
 - ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX4_DEBUG`` (default **n**)
 
   Toggle debugging code and stricter compilation flags. Enabling this option
@@ -206,8 +211,21 @@ Current RDMA core package and Linux kernel (recommended)
 - Minimal Linux kernel version: 4.14.
 - Minimal RDMA core version: v15 (see `RDMA core installation documentation`_).
 
+- Starting with rdma-core v21, static libraries can be built::
+
+    cd build
+    CFLAGS=-fPIC cmake -DIN_PLACE=1 -DENABLE_STATIC=1 -GNinja ..
+    ninja
+
 .. _`RDMA core installation documentation`: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linux-rdma/rdma-core/master/README.md
 
+If rdma-core libraries are built but not installed, DPDK makefile can link them,
+thanks to these environment variables:
+
+   - ``EXTRA_CFLAGS=-I/path/to/rdma-core/build/include``
+   - ``EXTRA_LDFLAGS=-L/path/to/rdma-core/build/lib``
+   - ``PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/path/to/rdma-core/build/lib/pkgconfig``
+
 .. _Mellanox_OFED_as_a_fallback:
 
 Mellanox OFED as a fallback
diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst b/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
index 749acd222..5ddca44ee 100644
--- a/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
@@ -210,6 +210,11 @@ These options can be modified in the ``.config`` file.
 
   This option has no performance impact.
 
+- ``CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_STATIC`` (default **n**)
+
+  Embed static flavour of the dependencies **libibverbs** and **libmlx5**
+  in the PMD shared library or the executable static binary.
+
 - ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG`` (default **n**)
 
   Toggle debugging code and stricter compilation flags. Enabling this option
@@ -577,9 +582,22 @@ RMDA Core with Linux Kernel
   - rdma-core version 18.0 or above built with 32bit support.
   - Kernel version 4.14.41 or above.
 
+- Starting with rdma-core v21, static libraries can be built::
+
+    cd build
+    CFLAGS=-fPIC cmake -DIN_PLACE=1 -DENABLE_STATIC=1 -GNinja ..
+    ninja
+
 .. _`Linux installation documentation`: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/plain/Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst
 .. _`RDMA Core installation documentation`: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linux-rdma/rdma-core/master/README.md
 
+If rdma-core libraries are built but not installed, DPDK makefile can link them,
+thanks to these environment variables:
+
+   - ``EXTRA_CFLAGS=-I/path/to/rdma-core/build/include``
+   - ``EXTRA_LDFLAGS=-L/path/to/rdma-core/build/lib``
+   - ``PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/path/to/rdma-core/build/lib/pkgconfig``
+
 Mellanox OFED
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx4/Makefile b/drivers/net/mlx4/Makefile
index 724a4dcbc..1f1b92748 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx4/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx4/Makefile
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ CFLAGS += -DMLX4_GLUE='"$(LIB_GLUE)"'
 CFLAGS += -DMLX4_GLUE_VERSION='"$(LIB_GLUE_VERSION)"'
 CFLAGS_mlx4_glue.o += -fPIC
 LDLIBS += -ldl
+else ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_STATIC),y)
+LDLIBS += $(shell $(RTE_SDK)/buildtools/options-ibverbs-static.sh)
 else
 LDLIBS += -libverbs -lmlx4
 endif
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile b/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
index 47a7f4d68..28460c56f 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/Makefile
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ CFLAGS += -DMLX5_GLUE='"$(LIB_GLUE)"'
 CFLAGS += -DMLX5_GLUE_VERSION='"$(LIB_GLUE_VERSION)"'
 CFLAGS_mlx5_glue.o += -fPIC
 LDLIBS += -ldl
+else ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_STATIC),y)
+LDLIBS += $(shell $(RTE_SDK)/buildtools/options-ibverbs-static.sh)
 else
 LDLIBS += -libverbs -lmlx5
 endif
diff --git a/mk/rte.app.mk b/mk/rte.app.mk
index d5b1ec6b7..3ac396236 100644
--- a/mk/rte.app.mk
+++ b/mk/rte.app.mk
@@ -174,6 +174,10 @@ _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_PMD)       += -lrte_pmd_mlx5 -lmnl
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_DLOPEN),y)
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX4_PMD)       += -ldl
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_PMD)       += -ldl
+else ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_IBVERBS_LINK_STATIC),y)
+LIBS_IBVERBS_STATIC = $(shell $(RTE_SDK)/buildtools/options-ibverbs-static.sh)
+_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX4_PMD)       += $(LIBS_IBVERBS_STATIC)
+_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_PMD)       += $(LIBS_IBVERBS_STATIC)
 else
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX4_PMD)       += -libverbs -lmlx4
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_PMD)       += -libverbs -lmlx5
