diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst
index 9a73b1d8e..62d635b74 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst
@@ -105,5 +105,3 @@ Deprecation Notices
     ``rte_cryptodev_queue_pair_dettach_sym_session()`` will be deprecated from
     18.05 and removed in 18.08, as there are no drivers doing anything useful
     with them.
-  - Some feature flags such as ``RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER`` are ambiguous,
-    so some will be replaced by more explicit flags.
diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_18_08.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_18_08.rst
index 0624f3701..89b84846c 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_18_08.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_18_08.rst
@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@ API Changes
   - ``rte_cryptodev_get_private_session_size`` is replaced with
     ``rte_cryptodev_sym_get_private_session_size``
 
+* cryptodev: Feature flag ``RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER`` is
+  replaced with the more explicit``RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN``
+  and ``RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT`` flags.
+
 
 ABI Changes
 -----------
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/aesni_gcm/aesni_gcm_pmd.c b/drivers/crypto/aesni_gcm/aesni_gcm_pmd.c
index cd5b1952b..aa795cbbc 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/aesni_gcm/aesni_gcm_pmd.c
+++ b/drivers/crypto/aesni_gcm/aesni_gcm_pmd.c
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ aesni_gcm_create(const char *name,
 	dev->feature_flags = RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYMMETRIC_CRYPTO |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYM_OPERATION_CHAINING |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_AESNI |
-			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER;
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN;
 
 	switch (vector_mode) {
 	case RTE_AESNI_GCM_SSE:
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/dpaa2_sec/dpaa2_sec_dpseci.c b/drivers/crypto/dpaa2_sec/dpaa2_sec_dpseci.c
index 471ad1cbb..cadfeddeb 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/dpaa2_sec/dpaa2_sec_dpseci.c
+++ b/drivers/crypto/dpaa2_sec/dpaa2_sec_dpseci.c
@@ -2762,7 +2762,7 @@ dpaa2_sec_dev_init(struct rte_cryptodev *cryptodev)
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_HW_ACCELERATED |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYM_OPERATION_CHAINING |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SECURITY |
-			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER;
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN;
 
 	internals = cryptodev->data->dev_private;
 	internals->max_nb_sessions = RTE_DPAA2_SEC_PMD_MAX_NB_SESSIONS;
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/dpaa_sec/dpaa_sec.c b/drivers/crypto/dpaa_sec/dpaa_sec.c
index e7ae33c5e..54540d7f6 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/dpaa_sec/dpaa_sec.c
+++ b/drivers/crypto/dpaa_sec/dpaa_sec.c
@@ -2270,7 +2270,8 @@ dpaa_sec_dev_init(struct rte_cryptodev *cryptodev)
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_HW_ACCELERATED |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYM_OPERATION_CHAINING |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SECURITY |
-			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER;
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN |
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT;
 
 	internals = cryptodev->data->dev_private;
 	internals->max_nb_queue_pairs = RTE_DPAA_MAX_NB_SEC_QPS;
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/null/null_crypto_pmd.c b/drivers/crypto/null/null_crypto_pmd.c
index a8499cf94..d9dc22e0f 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/null/null_crypto_pmd.c
+++ b/drivers/crypto/null/null_crypto_pmd.c
@@ -177,7 +177,8 @@ cryptodev_null_create(const char *name,
 
 	dev->feature_flags = RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYMMETRIC_CRYPTO |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYM_OPERATION_CHAINING |
-			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER;
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN |
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT;
 
 	internals = dev->data->dev_private;
 
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/openssl/rte_openssl_pmd.c b/drivers/crypto/openssl/rte_openssl_pmd.c
index 965cab9f2..6878baa4c 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/openssl/rte_openssl_pmd.c
+++ b/drivers/crypto/openssl/rte_openssl_pmd.c
@@ -1660,7 +1660,7 @@ cryptodev_openssl_create(const char *name,
 	dev->feature_flags = RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYMMETRIC_CRYPTO |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYM_OPERATION_CHAINING |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_AESNI |
-			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER;
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN;
 
 	/* Set vector instructions mode supported */
 	internals = dev->data->dev_private;
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/qat/rte_qat_cryptodev.c b/drivers/crypto/qat/rte_qat_cryptodev.c
index bb109f8ba..4f1ba5f30 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/qat/rte_qat_cryptodev.c
+++ b/drivers/crypto/qat/rte_qat_cryptodev.c
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ crypto_qat_create(const char *name, struct rte_pci_device *pci_dev,
 	cryptodev->feature_flags = RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYMMETRIC_CRYPTO |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_HW_ACCELERATED |
 			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SYM_OPERATION_CHAINING |
-			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER;
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN |
+			RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT;
 
 	internals = cryptodev->data->dev_private;
 	switch (pci_dev->id.device_id) {
diff --git a/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.c b/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.c
index 40e249e79..b180d4c84 100644
--- a/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.c
+++ b/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.c
@@ -361,8 +361,10 @@ rte_cryptodev_get_feature_name(uint64_t flag)
 		return "CPU_AESNI";
 	case RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_HW_ACCELERATED:
 		return "HW_ACCELERATED";
-	case RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER:
-		return "MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER";
+	case RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN:
+		return "MBUF_INPUT_SCATTER_GATHER";
+	case RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT:
+		return "MBUF_OUTPUT_SCATTER_GATHER";
 	case RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_NEON:
 		return "CPU_NEON";
 	case RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_ARM_CE:
diff --git a/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.h b/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.h
index 8e8a59522..bfb52e7f2 100644
--- a/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.h
+++ b/lib/librte_cryptodev/rte_cryptodev.h
@@ -345,13 +345,15 @@ rte_cryptodev_get_aead_algo_enum(enum rte_crypto_aead_algorithm *algo_enum,
 /**< Operations are off-loaded to an external hardware accelerator */
 #define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_AVX512		(1ULL << 8)
 /**< Utilises CPU SIMD AVX512 instructions */
-#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER	(1ULL << 9)
-/**< Scatter-gather mbufs are supported */
-#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_NEON		(1ULL << 10)
+#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN	(1ULL << 9)
+/**< Scatter-gather input mbufs are supported */
+#define RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT (1ULL << 10)
+/**< Scatter-gather output mbufs are supported */
+#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_NEON		(1ULL << 11)
 /**< Utilises CPU NEON instructions */
-#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_ARM_CE		(1ULL << 11)
+#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_CPU_ARM_CE		(1ULL << 12)
 /**< Utilises ARM CPU Cryptographic Extensions */
-#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SECURITY		(1ULL << 12)
+#define	RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_SECURITY		(1ULL << 13)
 /**< Support Security Protocol Processing */
 
 
diff --git a/test/test/test_cryptodev.c b/test/test/test_cryptodev.c
index 2c687bd7c..627c3b1b3 100644
--- a/test/test/test_cryptodev.c
+++ b/test/test/test_cryptodev.c
@@ -3152,9 +3152,13 @@ test_kasumi_encryption_sgl(const struct kasumi_test_data *tdata)
 	struct rte_cryptodev_info dev_info;
 
 	rte_cryptodev_info_get(ts_params->valid_devs[0], &dev_info);
-	if (!(dev_info.feature_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER)) {
-		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather. "
-				"Test Skipped.\n");
+
+	uint64_t feat_flags = dev_info.feature_flags;
+
+	if (!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN) ||
+			!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT)) {
+		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather in both input "
+				"and output mbufs. Test Skipped.\n");
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -3300,9 +3304,12 @@ test_kasumi_encryption_oop_sgl(const struct kasumi_test_data *tdata)
 	struct rte_cryptodev_info dev_info;
 
 	rte_cryptodev_info_get(ts_params->valid_devs[0], &dev_info);
-	if (!(dev_info.feature_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER)) {
-		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather. "
-				"Test Skipped.\n");
+
+	uint64_t feat_flags = dev_info.feature_flags;
+	if (!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN) ||
+			!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT)) {
+		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather in both input "
+				"and output mbufs. Test Skipped.\n");
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -3651,9 +3658,13 @@ test_snow3g_encryption_oop_sgl(const struct snow3g_test_data *tdata)
 	struct rte_cryptodev_info dev_info;
 
 	rte_cryptodev_info_get(ts_params->valid_devs[0], &dev_info);
-	if (!(dev_info.feature_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER)) {
-		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather. "
-				"Test Skipped.\n");
+
+	uint64_t feat_flags = dev_info.feature_flags;
+
+	if (!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN) ||
+			!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT)) {
+		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather in both input "
+				"and output mbufs. Test Skipped.\n");
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -4485,10 +4496,14 @@ test_zuc_encryption_sgl(const struct wireless_test_data *tdata)
 		return -ENOTSUP;
 
 	rte_cryptodev_info_get(ts_params->valid_devs[0], &dev_info);
-	if (!(dev_info.feature_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER)) {
-		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather. "
-				"Test Skipped.\n");
-		return -ENOTSUP;
+
+	uint64_t feat_flags = dev_info.feature_flags;
+
+	if (!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN) ||
+			!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT)) {
+		printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather in both input "
+				"and output mbufs. Test Skipped.\n");
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	plaintext_len = ceil_byte_length(tdata->plaintext.len);
diff --git a/test/test/test_cryptodev_blockcipher.c b/test/test/test_cryptodev_blockcipher.c
index 256a7daa2..7a56171e9 100644
--- a/test/test/test_cryptodev_blockcipher.c
+++ b/test/test/test_cryptodev_blockcipher.c
@@ -77,10 +77,13 @@ test_blockcipher_one_case(const struct blockcipher_test_case *t,
 
 	if (t->feature_mask & BLOCKCIPHER_TEST_FEATURE_SG) {
 		rte_cryptodev_info_get(dev_id, &dev_info);
-		if (!(dev_info.feature_flags &
-				RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER)) {
-			printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather. "
-					"Test Skipped.\n");
+		uint64_t feat_flags = dev_info.feature_flags;
+
+		if (!(feat_flags & RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_IN) ||
+				!(feat_flags &
+					RTE_CRYPTODEV_FF_MBUF_SCATTER_GATHER_OUT)) {
+			printf("Device doesn't support scatter-gather in both input "
+				"and output mbufs. Test Skipped.\n");
 			return 0;
 		}
 		nb_segs = 3;
