diff --git a/lib/librte_ring/Makefile b/lib/librte_ring/Makefile
index 21a36770d..4c8410229 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ring/Makefile
+++ b/lib/librte_ring/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.vars.mk
 # library name
 LIB = librte_ring.a
 
-CFLAGS += $(WERROR_FLAGS) -I$(SRCDIR) -O3
+CFLAGS += $(WERROR_FLAGS) -I$(SRCDIR) -O3 -DALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API
 LDLIBS += -lrte_eal
 
 EXPORT_MAP := rte_ring_version.map
diff --git a/lib/librte_ring/meson.build b/lib/librte_ring/meson.build
index ab8b0b469..74219840a 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ring/meson.build
+++ b/lib/librte_ring/meson.build
@@ -6,3 +6,6 @@ sources = files('rte_ring.c')
 headers = files('rte_ring.h',
 		'rte_ring_c11_mem.h',
 		'rte_ring_generic.h')
+
+# rte_ring_create_elem and rte_ring_get_memsize_elem are experimental
+allow_experimental_apis = true
diff --git a/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.c b/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.c
index d9b308036..879feb9f6 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.c
+++ b/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.c
@@ -46,23 +46,32 @@ EAL_REGISTER_TAILQ(rte_ring_tailq)
 
 /* return the size of memory occupied by a ring */
 ssize_t
-rte_ring_get_memsize(unsigned count)
+rte_ring_get_memsize_elem(unsigned count, size_t esize)
 {
 	ssize_t sz;
 
 	/* count must be a power of 2 */
 	if ((!POWEROF2(count)) || (count > RTE_RING_SZ_MASK )) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, RING,
-			"Requested size is invalid, must be power of 2, and "
-			"do not exceed the size limit %u\n", RTE_RING_SZ_MASK);
+			"Requested number of elements is invalid, must be "
+			"power of 2, and do not exceed the limit %u\n",
+			RTE_RING_SZ_MASK);
+
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	sz = sizeof(struct rte_ring) + count * sizeof(void *);
+	sz = sizeof(struct rte_ring) + count * esize;
 	sz = RTE_ALIGN(sz, RTE_CACHE_LINE_SIZE);
 	return sz;
 }
 
+/* return the size of memory occupied by a ring */
+ssize_t
+rte_ring_get_memsize(unsigned count)
+{
+	return rte_ring_get_memsize_elem(count, sizeof(void *));
+}
+
 void
 rte_ring_reset(struct rte_ring *r)
 {
@@ -114,10 +123,10 @@ rte_ring_init(struct rte_ring *r, const char *name, unsigned count,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-/* create the ring */
+/* create the ring for a given element size */
 struct rte_ring *
-rte_ring_create(const char *name, unsigned count, int socket_id,
-		unsigned flags)
+rte_ring_create_elem(const char *name, unsigned count, size_t esize,
+		int socket_id, unsigned flags)
 {
 	char mz_name[RTE_MEMZONE_NAMESIZE];
 	struct rte_ring *r;
@@ -135,7 +144,7 @@ rte_ring_create(const char *name, unsigned count, int socket_id,
 	if (flags & RING_F_EXACT_SZ)
 		count = rte_align32pow2(count + 1);
 
-	ring_size = rte_ring_get_memsize(count);
+	ring_size = rte_ring_get_memsize_elem(count, esize);
 	if (ring_size < 0) {
 		rte_errno = ring_size;
 		return NULL;
@@ -182,6 +191,15 @@ rte_ring_create(const char *name, unsigned count, int socket_id,
 	return r;
 }
 
+/* create the ring */
+struct rte_ring *
+rte_ring_create(const char *name, unsigned count, int socket_id,
+		unsigned flags)
+{
+	return rte_ring_create_elem(name, count, sizeof(void *), socket_id,
+		flags);
+}
+
 /* free the ring */
 void
 rte_ring_free(struct rte_ring *r)
diff --git a/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.h b/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.h
index 2a9f768a1..bbc1202d3 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.h
+++ b/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring.h
@@ -122,6 +122,29 @@ struct rte_ring {
 #define __IS_SC 1
 #define __IS_MC 0
 
+/**
+ * @warning
+ * @b EXPERIMENTAL: this API may change without prior notice
+ *
+ * Calculate the memory size needed for a ring with given element size
+ *
+ * This function returns the number of bytes needed for a ring, given
+ * the number of elements in it and the size of the element. This value
+ * is the sum of the size of the structure rte_ring and the size of the
+ * memory needed for storing the elements. The value is aligned to a cache
+ * line size.
+ *
+ * @param count
+ *   The number of elements in the ring (must be a power of 2).
+ * @param esize
+ *   The size of elements in the ring (recommended to be a power of 2).
+ * @return
+ *   - The memory size needed for the ring on success.
+ *   - -EINVAL if count is not a power of 2.
+ */
+__rte_experimental
+ssize_t rte_ring_get_memsize_elem(unsigned count, size_t esize);
+
 /**
  * Calculate the memory size needed for a ring
  *
@@ -175,6 +198,54 @@ ssize_t rte_ring_get_memsize(unsigned count);
 int rte_ring_init(struct rte_ring *r, const char *name, unsigned count,
 	unsigned flags);
 
+/**
+ * @warning
+ * @b EXPERIMENTAL: this API may change without prior notice
+ *
+ * Create a new ring named *name* that stores elements with given size.
+ *
+ * This function uses ``memzone_reserve()`` to allocate memory. Then it
+ * calls rte_ring_init() to initialize an empty ring.
+ *
+ * The new ring size is set to *count*, which must be a power of
+ * two. Water marking is disabled by default. The real usable ring size
+ * is *count-1* instead of *count* to differentiate a free ring from an
+ * empty ring.
+ *
+ * The ring is added in RTE_TAILQ_RING list.
+ *
+ * @param name
+ *   The name of the ring.
+ * @param count
+ *   The number of elements in the ring (must be a power of 2).
+ * @param esize
+ *   The size of elements in the ring (recommended to be a power of 2).
+ * @param socket_id
+ *   The *socket_id* argument is the socket identifier in case of
+ *   NUMA. The value can be *SOCKET_ID_ANY* if there is no NUMA
+ *   constraint for the reserved zone.
+ * @param flags
+ *   An OR of the following:
+ *    - RING_F_SP_ENQ: If this flag is set, the default behavior when
+ *      using ``rte_ring_enqueue()`` or ``rte_ring_enqueue_bulk()``
+ *      is "single-producer". Otherwise, it is "multi-producers".
+ *    - RING_F_SC_DEQ: If this flag is set, the default behavior when
+ *      using ``rte_ring_dequeue()`` or ``rte_ring_dequeue_bulk()``
+ *      is "single-consumer". Otherwise, it is "multi-consumers".
+ * @return
+ *   On success, the pointer to the new allocated ring. NULL on error with
+ *    rte_errno set appropriately. Possible errno values include:
+ *    - E_RTE_NO_CONFIG - function could not get pointer to rte_config structure
+ *    - E_RTE_SECONDARY - function was called from a secondary process instance
+ *    - EINVAL - count provided is not a power of 2
+ *    - ENOSPC - the maximum number of memzones has already been allocated
+ *    - EEXIST - a memzone with the same name already exists
+ *    - ENOMEM - no appropriate memory area found in which to create memzone
+ */
+__rte_experimental
+struct rte_ring *rte_ring_create_elem(const char *name, unsigned count,
+				size_t esize, int socket_id, unsigned flags);
+
 /**
  * Create a new ring named *name* in memory.
  *
@@ -216,6 +287,7 @@ int rte_ring_init(struct rte_ring *r, const char *name, unsigned count,
  */
 struct rte_ring *rte_ring_create(const char *name, unsigned count,
 				 int socket_id, unsigned flags);
+
 /**
  * De-allocate all memory used by the ring.
  *
diff --git a/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring_version.map b/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring_version.map
index 510c1386e..e410a7503 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring_version.map
+++ b/lib/librte_ring/rte_ring_version.map
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ DPDK_2.2 {
 EXPERIMENTAL {
 	global:
 
+	rte_ring_create_elem;
+	rte_ring_get_memsize_elem;
 	rte_ring_reset;
 
 };
