diff --git a/drivers/bus/pci/bsd/pci.c b/drivers/bus/pci/bsd/pci.c
index a2de70910..636868f38 100644
--- a/drivers/bus/pci/bsd/pci.c
+++ b/drivers/bus/pci/bsd/pci.c
@@ -213,16 +213,18 @@ pci_uio_map_resource_by_index(struct rte_pci_device *dev, int res_idx,
 static int
 pci_scan_one(int dev_pci_fd, struct pci_conf *conf)
 {
+	struct rte_pci_device_internal *pdev;
 	struct rte_pci_device *dev;
 	struct pci_bar_io bar;
 	unsigned i, max;
 
-	dev = malloc(sizeof(*dev));
-	if (dev == NULL) {
+	pdev = malloc(sizeof(*pdev));
+	if (pdev == NULL)
 		return -1;
-	}
 
-	memset(dev, 0, sizeof(*dev));
+	memset(pdev, 0, sizeof(*pdev));
+
+	dev = &pdev->device;
 	dev->device.bus = &rte_pci_bus.bus;
 
 	dev->addr.domain = conf->pc_sel.pc_domain;
@@ -308,7 +310,7 @@ pci_scan_one(int dev_pci_fd, struct pci_conf *conf)
 				memmove(dev2->mem_resource,
 					dev->mem_resource,
 					sizeof(dev->mem_resource));
-				free(dev);
+				free(pdev);
 			}
 			return 0;
 		}
@@ -318,7 +320,7 @@ pci_scan_one(int dev_pci_fd, struct pci_conf *conf)
 	return 0;
 
 skipdev:
-	free(dev);
+	free(pdev);
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/bus/pci/linux/pci.c b/drivers/bus/pci/linux/pci.c
index 33c8ea7e9..dfab7b81b 100644
--- a/drivers/bus/pci/linux/pci.c
+++ b/drivers/bus/pci/linux/pci.c
@@ -219,22 +219,25 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 {
 	char filename[PATH_MAX];
 	unsigned long tmp;
+	struct rte_pci_device_internal *pdev;
 	struct rte_pci_device *dev;
 	char driver[PATH_MAX];
 	int ret;
 
-	dev = malloc(sizeof(*dev));
-	if (dev == NULL)
+	pdev = malloc(sizeof(*pdev));
+	if (pdev == NULL)
 		return -1;
 
-	memset(dev, 0, sizeof(*dev));
+	memset(pdev, 0, sizeof(*pdev));
+
+	dev = &pdev->device;
 	dev->device.bus = &rte_pci_bus.bus;
 	dev->addr = *addr;
 
 	/* get vendor id */
 	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/vendor", dirname);
 	if (eal_parse_sysfs_value(filename, &tmp) < 0) {
-		free(dev);
+		free(pdev);
 		return -1;
 	}
 	dev->id.vendor_id = (uint16_t)tmp;
@@ -242,7 +245,7 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 	/* get device id */
 	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/device", dirname);
 	if (eal_parse_sysfs_value(filename, &tmp) < 0) {
-		free(dev);
+		free(pdev);
 		return -1;
 	}
 	dev->id.device_id = (uint16_t)tmp;
@@ -251,7 +254,7 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/subsystem_vendor",
 		 dirname);
 	if (eal_parse_sysfs_value(filename, &tmp) < 0) {
-		free(dev);
+		free(pdev);
 		return -1;
 	}
 	dev->id.subsystem_vendor_id = (uint16_t)tmp;
@@ -260,7 +263,7 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/subsystem_device",
 		 dirname);
 	if (eal_parse_sysfs_value(filename, &tmp) < 0) {
-		free(dev);
+		free(pdev);
 		return -1;
 	}
 	dev->id.subsystem_device_id = (uint16_t)tmp;
@@ -269,7 +272,7 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/class",
 		 dirname);
 	if (eal_parse_sysfs_value(filename, &tmp) < 0) {
-		free(dev);
+		free(pdev);
 		return -1;
 	}
 	/* the least 24 bits are valid: class, subclass, program interface */
@@ -309,7 +312,7 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/resource", dirname);
 	if (pci_parse_sysfs_resource(filename, dev) < 0) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "%s(): cannot parse resource\n", __func__);
-		free(dev);
+		free(pdev);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -318,7 +321,7 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 	ret = pci_get_kernel_driver_by_path(filename, driver, sizeof(driver));
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Fail to get kernel driver\n");
-		free(dev);
+		free(pdev);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -382,7 +385,7 @@ pci_scan_one(const char *dirname, const struct rte_pci_addr *addr)
 						RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Unexpected device scan at %s!\n",
 							filename);
 				}
-				free(dev);
+				free(pdev);
 			}
 			return 0;
 		}
diff --git a/drivers/bus/pci/pci_common.c b/drivers/bus/pci/pci_common.c
index d2af472ef..8b9deca8b 100644
--- a/drivers/bus/pci/pci_common.c
+++ b/drivers/bus/pci/pci_common.c
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@ pci_unplug(struct rte_device *dev)
 	if (ret == 0) {
 		rte_pci_remove_device(pdev);
 		rte_devargs_remove(dev->devargs);
-		free(pdev);
+		free(RTE_PCI_DEVICE_INTERNAL(pdev));
 	}
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/drivers/bus/pci/private.h b/drivers/bus/pci/private.h
index 8a5524052..3e2abd818 100644
--- a/drivers/bus/pci/private.h
+++ b/drivers/bus/pci/private.h
@@ -10,6 +10,14 @@
 #include <rte_pci.h>
 #include <rte_bus_pci.h>
 
+/*
+ * Convert struct rte_pci_device to struct rte_pci_device_internal
+ */
+#define RTE_PCI_DEVICE_INTERNAL(ptr) \
+	container_of(ptr, struct rte_pci_device_internal, device)
+#define RTE_PCI_DEVICE_INTERNAL_CONST(ptr) \
+	container_of(ptr, const struct rte_pci_device_internal, device)
+
 extern struct rte_pci_bus rte_pci_bus;
 
 struct rte_pci_driver;
@@ -17,6 +25,10 @@ struct rte_pci_device;
 
 extern struct rte_pci_bus rte_pci_bus;
 
+struct rte_pci_device_internal {
+	struct rte_pci_device device;
+};
+
 /**
  * Probe the PCI bus
  *
