diff --git a/lib/Makefile b/lib/Makefile
index 300ab7d748..0f6fb65293 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile
+++ b/lib/Makefile
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_CFGFILE) += librte_cfgfile
 DEPDIRS-librte_cfgfile := librte_eal
 DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_CMDLINE) += librte_cmdline
 DEPDIRS-librte_cmdline := librte_eal librte_net
+DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY) += librte_telemetry
+DEPDIRS-librte_telemetry := librte_eal
 DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_ETHER) += librte_ethdev
 DEPDIRS-librte_ethdev := librte_net librte_eal librte_mempool librte_ring
 DEPDIRS-librte_ethdev += librte_mbuf
@@ -72,6 +74,9 @@ DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_JOBSTATS) += librte_jobstats
 DEPDIRS-librte_jobstats := librte_eal
 DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_METRICS) += librte_metrics
 DEPDIRS-librte_metrics := librte_eal librte_ethdev
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY),y)
+DEPDIRS-librte_metrics += librte_telemetry
+endif
 DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_BITRATE) += librte_bitratestats
 DEPDIRS-librte_bitratestats := librte_eal librte_metrics librte_ethdev
 DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_LATENCY_STATS) += librte_latencystats
@@ -114,8 +119,6 @@ DEPDIRS-librte_bpf := librte_eal librte_mempool librte_mbuf librte_ethdev
 DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_IPSEC) += librte_ipsec
 DEPDIRS-librte_ipsec := librte_eal librte_mbuf librte_cryptodev librte_security \
 			librte_net librte_hash
-DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY) += librte_telemetry
-DEPDIRS-librte_telemetry := librte_eal librte_metrics librte_ethdev
 DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_RCU) += librte_rcu
 DEPDIRS-librte_rcu := librte_eal librte_ring
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_metrics/Makefile b/lib/librte_metrics/Makefile
index aa4d8546f3..1264d3bbb0 100644
--- a/lib/librte_metrics/Makefile
+++ b/lib/librte_metrics/Makefile
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@ ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY),y)
 SRCS-y += rte_metrics_telemetry.c
 SYMLINK-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_METRICS)-include += rte_metrics_telemetry.h
 
-LDLIBS += -lrte_ethdev
+LDLIBS += -lrte_ethdev -lrte_telemetry
 LDLIBS += -ljansson
 
+CFLAGS += -I$(RTE_SDK)/lib/librte_telemetry/
 endif
 
 # Install header file
diff --git a/lib/librte_metrics/meson.build b/lib/librte_metrics/meson.build
index a39bc7a2a6..27ccbd6550 100644
--- a/lib/librte_metrics/meson.build
+++ b/lib/librte_metrics/meson.build
@@ -9,5 +9,6 @@ if jansson.found()
 	ext_deps += jansson
 	sources += files('rte_metrics_telemetry.c')
 	headers = files('rte_metrics_telemetry.h')
-	deps += ['ethdev']
+	deps += ['ethdev', 'telemetry']
+	includes += include_directories('../librte_telemetry')
 endif
diff --git a/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.c b/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.c
index 9b38d7787c..e07670219f 100644
--- a/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.c
+++ b/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.c
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #include <rte_memzone.h>
 #include <rte_spinlock.h>
 
+int metrics_initialized;
+
 #define RTE_METRICS_MEMZONE_NAME "RTE_METRICS"
 
 /**
@@ -60,6 +62,8 @@ rte_metrics_init(int socket_id)
 	struct rte_metrics_data_s *stats;
 	const struct rte_memzone *memzone;
 
+	if (metrics_initialized)
+		return;
 	if (rte_eal_process_type() != RTE_PROC_PRIMARY)
 		return;
 
@@ -73,6 +77,7 @@ rte_metrics_init(int socket_id)
 	stats = memzone->addr;
 	memset(stats, 0, sizeof(struct rte_metrics_data_s));
 	rte_spinlock_init(&stats->lock);
+	metrics_initialized = 1;
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.h b/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.h
index 466ca98c31..fbe64ddf2b 100644
--- a/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.h
+++ b/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics.h
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+extern int metrics_initialized;
+
 /** Maximum length of metric name (including null-terminator) */
 #define RTE_METRICS_MAX_NAME_LEN 64
 #define RTE_METRICS_MAX_METRICS 256
diff --git a/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics_telemetry.c b/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics_telemetry.c
index 78c21663df..31d505551b 100644
--- a/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics_telemetry.c
+++ b/lib/librte_metrics/rte_metrics_telemetry.c
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 
 #include <rte_ethdev.h>
 #include <rte_string_fns.h>
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY
+#include <rte_telemetry_internal.h>
+#endif
 
 #include "rte_metrics.h"
 #include "rte_metrics_telemetry.h"
@@ -74,6 +77,7 @@ rte_metrics_tel_reg_all_ethdev(int *metrics_register_done, int *reg_index_list)
 	int ret, nb_drv_idx = 0;
 	uint16_t d;
 
+	rte_metrics_init(rte_socket_id());
 	RTE_ETH_FOREACH_DEV(d) {
 		int i;
 		/* Different device types have different numbers of stats, so
@@ -415,6 +419,16 @@ rte_metrics_tel_extract_data(struct telemetry_encode_param *ep, json_t *data)
 
 RTE_INIT(metrics_ctor)
 {
+#ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY
+	static const struct metrics_functions fns = {
+		.reg_all_ethdev = rte_metrics_tel_reg_all_ethdev,
+		.encode_json_format = rte_metrics_tel_encode_json_format,
+		.get_port_stats_ids = rte_metrics_tel_get_port_stats_ids,
+		.get_ports_stats_json = rte_metrics_tel_get_ports_stats_json,
+		.extract_data = rte_metrics_tel_extract_data
+	};
+	rte_telemetry_set_metrics_fns(&fns); /* assign them to telemetry lib */
+#endif
 	metrics_log_level = rte_log_register("lib.metrics");
 	if (metrics_log_level >= 0)
 		rte_log_set_level(metrics_log_level, RTE_LOG_ERR);
diff --git a/lib/librte_telemetry/Makefile b/lib/librte_telemetry/Makefile
index 12009b9a7c..2d7e442ab0 100644
--- a/lib/librte_telemetry/Makefile
+++ b/lib/librte_telemetry/Makefile
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ LIB = librte_telemetry.a
 
 CFLAGS += -O3
 CFLAGS += $(WERROR_FLAGS) -I$(SRCDIR)
+CFLAGS += -I$(RTE_SDK)/lib/librte_metrics/
 
-LDLIBS += -lrte_eal -lrte_ethdev
-LDLIBS += -lrte_metrics
+LDLIBS += -lrte_eal
 LDLIBS += -lpthread
 LDLIBS += -ljansson
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_telemetry/meson.build b/lib/librte_telemetry/meson.build
index 1bdf128c1a..18b214a8e8 100644
--- a/lib/librte_telemetry/meson.build
+++ b/lib/librte_telemetry/meson.build
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 sources = files('rte_telemetry.c', 'rte_telemetry_parser.c', 'rte_telemetry_parser_test.c')
 headers = files('rte_telemetry.h', 'rte_telemetry_internal.h', 'rte_telemetry_parser.h')
-deps += ['metrics', 'ethdev']
+includes += include_directories('../librte_metrics')
 
 jansson = dependency('jansson', required: false)
 if jansson.found()
diff --git a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry.c b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry.c
index 2022ce68eb..2fb8ffe873 100644
--- a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry.c
+++ b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry.c
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@
 #include <jansson.h>
 
 #include <rte_eal.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
 #include <rte_metrics.h>
 #include <rte_option.h>
 #include <rte_string_fns.h>
+#include <rte_lcore.h>
 
 #include "rte_telemetry.h"
 #include "rte_telemetry_internal.h"
@@ -43,6 +43,15 @@ struct json_data {
 	int stat_value;
 };
 
+/* global array of functions pointers to metrics library */
+const struct metrics_functions *metrics_fns;
+
+void
+rte_telemetry_set_metrics_fns(const struct metrics_functions *fns)
+{
+	metrics_fns = fns;
+}
+
 static void
 rte_telemetry_get_runtime_dir(char *socket_path, size_t size)
 {
@@ -145,7 +154,7 @@ rte_telemetry_send_global_stats_values(struct telemetry_encode_param *ep,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	ret = rte_metrics_tel_encode_json_format(ep, &json_buffer);
+	ret = metrics_fns->encode_json_format(ep, &json_buffer);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		TELEMETRY_LOG_ERR("JSON encode function failed");
 		ret = rte_telemetry_send_error_response(telemetry, ret);
@@ -190,7 +199,7 @@ rte_telemetry_send_ports_stats_values(struct telemetry_encode_param *ep,
 		goto einval_fail;
 	}
 
-	ret = rte_metrics_tel_get_ports_stats_json(ep, telemetry->reg_index,
+	ret = metrics_fns->get_ports_stats_json(ep, telemetry->reg_index,
 			&json_buffer);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		TELEMETRY_LOG_ERR("Function for get_ports_stats_json"
@@ -222,8 +231,7 @@ rte_telemetry_initial_accept(struct telemetry_impl *telemetry)
 	int ret;
 	int selftest = 0;
 
-	ret = rte_metrics_tel_reg_all_ethdev(
-			&telemetry->metrics_register_done,
+	ret = metrics_fns->reg_all_ethdev(&telemetry->metrics_register_done,
 			telemetry->reg_index);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		TELEMETRY_LOG_ERR("Failed to register ethdev metrics");
@@ -467,7 +475,6 @@ rte_telemetry_init(void)
 	}
 
 	static_telemetry->socket_id = rte_socket_id();
-	rte_metrics_init(static_telemetry->socket_id);
 
 	ret = pthread_attr_init(&attr);
 	if (ret != 0) {
diff --git a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_internal.h b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_internal.h
index ca70e2ed77..2ef72b1ec3 100644
--- a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_internal.h
+++ b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_internal.h
@@ -10,6 +10,36 @@
 #ifndef _RTE_TELEMETRY_INTERNAL_H_
 #define _RTE_TELEMETRY_INTERNAL_H_
 
+/* function types for the functions coming from metrics library */
+typedef int32_t (*metrics_tel_reg_all_ethdev_t)(int *metrics_register_done,
+		int *reg_index_list);
+
+typedef int32_t (*metrics_tel_encode_json_format_t)(
+		struct telemetry_encode_param *ep, char **json_buffer);
+
+typedef int32_t (*metrics_tel_get_port_stats_ids_t)(
+		struct telemetry_encode_param *ep);
+
+typedef int32_t (*metrics_tel_get_ports_stats_json_t)(
+		struct telemetry_encode_param *ep,
+		int *reg_index, char **json_buffer);
+
+typedef int32_t (*metrics_tel_extract_data_t)(struct telemetry_encode_param *ep,
+		json_t *data);
+
+struct metrics_functions {
+	metrics_tel_reg_all_ethdev_t reg_all_ethdev;
+	metrics_tel_encode_json_format_t encode_json_format;
+	metrics_tel_get_port_stats_ids_t get_port_stats_ids;
+	metrics_tel_get_ports_stats_json_t get_ports_stats_json;
+	metrics_tel_extract_data_t extract_data;
+};
+extern const struct metrics_functions *metrics_fns;
+
+/* API for use by metrics libraries to provide the functions to use */
+__rte_experimental
+void rte_telemetry_set_metrics_fns(const struct metrics_functions *fns);
+
 /* Logging Macros */
 extern int telemetry_log_level;
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_parser.c b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_parser.c
index 4e236e1e6a..7dc84c2cf3 100644
--- a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_parser.c
+++ b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_parser.c
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 
 #include <rte_metrics.h>
 #include <rte_common.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
 #include <rte_metrics_telemetry.h>
 
 #include "rte_telemetry_internal.h"
@@ -202,7 +201,7 @@ rte_telemetry_command_ports_all_stat_values(struct telemetry_impl *telemetry,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	ret = rte_metrics_tel_get_port_stats_ids(&ep);
+	ret = metrics_fns->get_port_stats_ids(&ep);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		TELEMETRY_LOG_ERR("Could not get ports stat values");
 		ret = rte_telemetry_send_error_response(telemetry, ret);
@@ -276,7 +275,7 @@ rte_telemetry_command_ports_stats_values_by_name(struct telemetry_impl
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	ret = rte_metrics_tel_extract_data(&ep, data);
+	ret = metrics_fns->extract_data(&ep, data);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		TELEMETRY_LOG_ERR("Extracting JSON data failed");
 		ret = rte_telemetry_send_error_response(telemetry, ret);
diff --git a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_version.map b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_version.map
index fa62d7718c..a80058c59c 100644
--- a/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_version.map
+++ b/lib/librte_telemetry/rte_telemetry_version.map
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ EXPERIMENTAL {
 	rte_telemetry_init;
 	rte_telemetry_parse;
 	rte_telemetry_selftest;
+	rte_telemetry_set_metrics_fns;
 
 	local: *;
 };
diff --git a/lib/meson.build b/lib/meson.build
index c28b8df83d..7118a795a3 100644
--- a/lib/meson.build
+++ b/lib/meson.build
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 libraries = [
 	'kvargs', # eal depends on kvargs
 	'eal', # everything depends on eal
+	'telemetry',
 	'ring',
 	'rcu', # rcu depends on ring
 	'mempool', 'mbuf', 'net', 'meter', 'ethdev', 'pci', # core
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ libraries = [
 	# add pkt framework libs which use other libs from above
 	'port', 'table', 'pipeline',
 	# flow_classify lib depends on pkt framework table lib
-	'flow_classify', 'bpf', 'telemetry']
+	'flow_classify', 'bpf']
 
 if is_windows
 	libraries = ['kvargs','eal'] # only supported libraries for windows
diff --git a/mk/rte.app.mk b/mk/rte.app.mk
index 302dfe69fe..6df5bc322a 100644
--- a/mk/rte.app.mk
+++ b/mk/rte.app.mk
@@ -49,11 +49,6 @@ _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_FIB)            += -lrte_fib
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_RIB)            += -lrte_rib
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_LPM)            += -lrte_lpm
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_ACL)            += -lrte_acl
-_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY)      += --no-as-needed
-_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY)      += --whole-archive
-_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY)      += -lrte_telemetry -ljansson
-_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY)      += --no-whole-archive
-_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY)      += --as-needed
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_JOBSTATS)       += -lrte_jobstats
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_METRICS)        += --whole-archive
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_METRICS)        += -lrte_metrics
@@ -95,6 +90,7 @@ _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_DRIVER_MEMPOOL_RING)   += -lrte_mempool_ring
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_OCTEONTX2_MEMPOOL) += -lrte_mempool_octeontx2
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_RING)           += -lrte_ring
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_PCI)            += -lrte_pci
+_LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_TELEMETRY)      += -lrte_telemetry -ljansson
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_EAL)            += -lrte_eal
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_CMDLINE)        += -lrte_cmdline
 _LDLIBS-$(CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_REORDER)        += -lrte_reorder
