diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
index 1f459ac..5fe6374 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ eal_long_options[] = {
 	{OPT_MASTER_LCORE,      1, NULL, OPT_MASTER_LCORE_NUM     },
 	{OPT_NO_HPET,           0, NULL, OPT_NO_HPET_NUM          },
 	{OPT_NO_HUGE,           0, NULL, OPT_NO_HUGE_NUM          },
+	{OPT_HUGE_UNLINK,       0, NULL, OPT_HUGE_UNLINK_NUM      },
 	{OPT_NO_PCI,            0, NULL, OPT_NO_PCI_NUM           },
 	{OPT_NO_SHCONF,         0, NULL, OPT_NO_SHCONF_NUM        },
 	{OPT_PCI_BLACKLIST,     1, NULL, OPT_PCI_BLACKLIST_NUM    },
@@ -722,6 +723,10 @@ eal_parse_common_option(int opt, const char *optarg,
 		conf->no_hugetlbfs = 1;
 		break;
 
+	case OPT_HUGE_UNLINK_NUM:
+		conf->hugepage_unlink = 1;
+		break;
+
 	case OPT_NO_PCI_NUM:
 		conf->no_pci = 1;
 		break;
@@ -856,6 +861,12 @@ eal_check_common_options(struct internal_config
*internal_cfg)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	if (internal_cfg->no_hugetlbfs && internal_cfg->hugepage_unlink) {
+		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Option --"OPT_HUGE_UNLINK" cannot "
+			"be specified together with --"OPT_NO_HUGE"\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	if (rte_eal_devargs_type_count(RTE_DEVTYPE_WHITELISTED_PCI) != 0 &&
 		rte_eal_devargs_type_count(RTE_DEVTYPE_BLACKLISTED_PCI) != 0) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Options blacklist (-b) and whitelist (-w) "
@@ -906,6 +917,7 @@ eal_common_usage(void)
 	       "  -h, --help          This help\n"
 	       "\nEAL options for DEBUG use only:\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_HUGE"           Use malloc instead of hugetlbfs\n"
+	       "  --"OPT_HUGE_UNLINK"       Unlink hugepage backing file after
initalization\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_PCI"            Disable PCI\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_HPET"           Disable HPET\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_NO_SHCONF"         No shared config (mmap'd files)\n"
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
index e2ecb0d..84b075f 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ struct internal_config {
 	volatile unsigned force_nchannel; /**< force number of channels */
 	volatile unsigned force_nrank;    /**< force number of ranks */
 	volatile unsigned no_hugetlbfs;   /**< true to disable hugetlbfs */
+	volatile unsigned hugepage_unlink; /** < true to unlink backing files */
 	volatile unsigned xen_dom0_support; /**< support app running on Xen
Dom0*/
 	volatile unsigned no_pci;         /**< true to disable PCI */
 	volatile unsigned no_hpet;        /**< true to disable HPET */
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h
b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h
index f6714d9..745f38c 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_options.h
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ enum {
 	OPT_PROC_TYPE_NUM,
 #define OPT_NO_HPET           "no-hpet"
 	OPT_NO_HPET_NUM,
+#define OPT_HUGE_UNLINK        "huge-unlink"
+	OPT_HUGE_UNLINK_NUM,
 #define OPT_NO_HUGE           "no-huge"
 	OPT_NO_HUGE_NUM,
 #define OPT_NO_PCI            "no-pci"
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
index ac2745e..2b86428 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
@@ -786,6 +786,37 @@ copy_hugepages_to_shared_mem(struct hugepage_file *
dst, int dest_size,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+unlink_hugepage_files(struct hugepage_file *hugepg_tbl,
+		struct hugepage_info *hpi,
+		unsigned num_hp_info)
+{
+	unsigned socket, size;
+	int page, nrpages = 0;
+
+	/* get total number of hugepages */
+	for (size = 0; size < num_hp_info; size++)
+		for (socket = 0; socket < RTE_MAX_NUMA_NODES; socket++)
+			nrpages += internal_config.hugepage_info[size].num_pages[socket];
+
+	for (size = 0; size < num_hp_info; size++) {
+		for (socket = 0; socket < RTE_MAX_NUMA_NODES; socket++) {
+			for (page = 0; page < nrpages; page++) {
+				struct hugepage_file *hp = &hugepg_tbl[page];
+				if ((hp->size == hpi[size].hugepage_sz) &&
+						(hp->socket_id == (int) socket) &&
+						hp->final_va != NULL) {
+						if (unlink(hp->filepath)) {
+							RTE_LOG(WARNING, EAL, "%s(): Removing %s failed: %s\n",
+								__func__, hp->filepath, strerror(errno));
+					}
+				}
+			} /* foreach page */
+		} /* foreach socket */
+	} /* foreach pagesize */
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /*
  * unmaps hugepages that are not going to be used. since we originally
