diff --git a/app/test/meson.build b/app/test/meson.build
index 2b480adfba..4cf540fc74 100644
--- a/app/test/meson.build
+++ b/app/test/meson.build
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ test_sources = files(
         'test_meter.c',
         'test_mcslock.c',
         'test_mp_secondary.c',
+        'test_net.c',
         'test_per_lcore.c',
         'test_pflock.c',
         'test_pmd_perf.c',
@@ -177,6 +178,7 @@ test_deps = [
         'ipsec',
         'lpm',
         'member',
+        'net',
         'node',
         'pipeline',
         'port',
diff --git a/app/test/test_net.c b/app/test/test_net.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2cb7d3e1c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/test/test_net.c
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+ * Copyright(c) 2021 Intel Corporation
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#include <rte_ip.h>
+#include <rte_common.h>
+#include "test.h"
+
+static int
+test_rte_ip_parse_addr(void)
+{
+	printf("Running IP parsing tests...\n");
+
+	struct str_ip_t {
+		const char *str;
+		uint32_t exp_output;
+		uint32_t expected_to_fail;
+	} str_ip_tests[] = {
+		{ .str = "1.2.3.4", .exp_output = RTE_IPV4(1, 2, 3, 4)},
+		{ .str = "192.168.255.255", .exp_output =
+				RTE_IPV4(192, 168, 255, 255)},
+		{ .str = "172.16.0.9", .exp_output =
+				RTE_IPV4(172, 16, 0, 9)},
+		{ .str = "1.2.3", .expected_to_fail = 1},
+		{ .str = "1.2.3.4.5", .expected_to_fail = 1},
+		{ .str = "fail.1.2.3", .expected_to_fail = 1},
+		{ .str = "", .expected_to_fail = 1},
+		{ .str = "1.2.3.fail", .expected_to_fail = 1}
+	};
+
+	uint32_t i;
+	for (i = 0; i < RTE_DIM(str_ip_tests); i++) {
+		uint32_t test_addr;
+		int32_t err = rte_ip_parse_addr(str_ip_tests[i].str,
+							&test_addr);
+		if (!test_addr) {
+			if (str_ip_tests[i].expected_to_fail != 1)
+				return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (err || test_addr != str_ip_tests[i].exp_output) {
+			if (str_ip_tests[i].expected_to_fail != 1)
+				return -1;
+		}
+	}
+
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+test_net_tests(void)
+{
+	int ret = test_rte_ip_parse_addr();
+	return ret;
+}
+
+REGISTER_TEST_COMMAND(net_autotest, test_net_tests);
diff --git a/lib/net/meson.build b/lib/net/meson.build
index e899846578..b2577a7592 100644
--- a/lib/net/meson.build
+++ b/lib/net/meson.build
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ headers = files(
 sources = files(
         'rte_arp.c',
         'rte_ether.c',
+        'rte_ip.c',
         'rte_net.c',
         'rte_net_crc.c',
 )
diff --git a/lib/net/rte_ip.c b/lib/net/rte_ip.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b859dfb640
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/net/rte_ip.c
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+ * Copyright(c) 2021 Intel Corporation
+ */
+
+#include <string.h>
+#include <rte_ip.h>
+
+int32_t
+rte_ip_parse_addr(const char *src_ip, uint32_t *output_addr)
+{
+	int32_t ret = 0;
+	char *current_position;
+
+	if (src_ip == NULL)
+		return -1;
+
+	char *tok = strdup(src_ip);
+	if (tok == NULL)
+		return -1;
+
+	char *current_digit = strtok_r(tok, ".", &current_position);
+
+	*output_addr = 0;
+	uint32_t i = 0;
+	while (current_digit) {
+		uint32_t shift = ((3 - i) * 8);
+		unsigned long parsed_value = strtoul(current_digit, NULL, 0)
+								<< shift;
+
+		if (parsed_value == 0 && strcmp(current_digit, "0"))
+			break;
+
+		*output_addr |= parsed_value;
+		current_digit = strtok_r(NULL, ".", &current_position);
+		i++;
+
+	}
+	if (i != 4)
+		return -1;
+
+	free(tok);
+	return ret;
+}
diff --git a/lib/net/rte_ip.h b/lib/net/rte_ip.h
index c575250852..188054fda4 100644
--- a/lib/net/rte_ip.h
+++ b/lib/net/rte_ip.h
@@ -426,6 +426,24 @@ rte_ipv4_udptcp_cksum_verify(const struct rte_ipv4_hdr *ipv4_hdr,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * IP address parser.
+ *
+ * @param src_ip
+ *   The IP address to be parsed.
+ * @param output_addr
+ *   The array in which the parsed digits will be saved.
+ *
+ * @retval 0
+ *   Success.
+ * @retval -1
+ *   Failure due to invalid input arguments.
+ */
+
+__rte_experimental
+int32_t
+rte_ip_parse_addr(const char *src_ip, uint32_t *output_addr);
+
 /**
  * IPv6 Header
  */
diff --git a/lib/net/version.map b/lib/net/version.map
index 4f4330d1c4..3e5a307e48 100644
--- a/lib/net/version.map
+++ b/lib/net/version.map
@@ -12,3 +12,11 @@ DPDK_22 {
 
 	local: *;
 };
+
+EXPERIMENTAL {
+	global:
+
+	rte_net_skip_ip6_ext;
+	rte_ether_unformat_addr;
+	rte_ip_parse_addr;
+};
