diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst b/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
index 51f51259e3..f137f156f9 100644
--- a/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
@@ -599,6 +599,9 @@ Limitations
 
 - The NIC egress flow rules on representor port are not supported.
 
+- When using DV/verbs flow engine (``dv_flow_en`` = 1/0 respectively), Match on SPI field
+  in ESP header for group 0 needs MLNX_OFED 5.6+.
+
 
 Statistics
 ----------
diff --git a/drivers/common/mlx5/linux/meson.build b/drivers/common/mlx5/linux/meson.build
index 7e1575efc8..96a6c6c9be 100644
--- a/drivers/common/mlx5/linux/meson.build
+++ b/drivers/common/mlx5/linux/meson.build
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ has_member_args = [
 # [ "MACRO to define if found", "header for the search",
 #   "symbol to search" ]
 has_sym_args = [
+        [ 'HAVE_IBV_FLOW_SPEC_ESP', 'infiniband/verbs.h',
+            'IBV_FLOW_SPEC_ESP' ],
         [ 'HAVE_IBV_RX_HASH_IPSEC_SPI', 'infiniband/verbs.h',
             'IBV_RX_HASH_IPSEC_SPI' ],
         [ 'HAVE_IBV_RELAXED_ORDERING', 'infiniband/verbs.h',
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_verbs.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_verbs.c
index 28ea28bfbe..3facd9c3b9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_verbs.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_verbs.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "mlx5.h"
 #include "mlx5_flow.h"
 #include "mlx5_rx.h"
+#include "mlx5_flow_os.h"
 
 #define VERBS_SPEC_INNER(item_flags) \
 	(!!((item_flags) & MLX5_FLOW_LAYER_TUNNEL) ? IBV_FLOW_SPEC_INNER : 0)
@@ -672,6 +673,42 @@ flow_verbs_translate_item_tcp(struct mlx5_flow *dev_flow,
 	flow_verbs_spec_add(&dev_flow->verbs, &tcp, size);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Convert the @p item into a Verbs specification. This function assumes that
+ * the input is valid and that there is space to insert the requested item
+ * into the flow.
+ *
+ * @param[in, out] dev_flow
+ *   Pointer to dev_flow structure.
+ * @param[in] item
+ *   Item specification.
+ * @param[in] item_flags
+ *   Parsed item flags.
+ */
+#ifdef HAVE_IBV_FLOW_SPEC_ESP
+static void
+flow_verbs_translate_item_esp(struct mlx5_flow *dev_flow,
+			      const struct rte_flow_item *item,
+			      uint64_t item_flags __rte_unused)
+{
+	const struct rte_flow_item_esp *spec = item->spec;
+	const struct rte_flow_item_esp *mask = item->mask;
+	unsigned int size = sizeof(struct ibv_flow_spec_esp);
+	struct ibv_flow_spec_esp esp = {
+		.type = IBV_FLOW_SPEC_ESP | VERBS_SPEC_INNER(item_flags),
+		.size = size,
+	};
+
+	if (!mask)
+		mask = &rte_flow_item_esp_mask;
+	if (spec) {
+		esp.val.spi = spec->hdr.spi & mask->hdr.spi;
+		esp.mask.spi = mask->hdr.spi;
+	}
+	flow_verbs_spec_add(&dev_flow->verbs, &esp, size);
+}
+#endif
+
 /**
  * Convert the @p item into a Verbs specification. This function assumes that
  * the input is valid and that there is space to insert the requested item
@@ -1293,6 +1330,14 @@ flow_verbs_validate(struct rte_eth_dev *dev,
 		int ret = 0;
 
 		switch (items->type) {
+		case RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_ESP:
+			ret = mlx5_flow_os_validate_item_esp(items, item_flags,
+							  next_protocol,
+							  error);
+			if (ret < 0)
+				return ret;
+			last_item = MLX5_FLOW_ITEM_ESP;
+			break;
 		case RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_VOID:
 			break;
 		case RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_ETH:
@@ -1879,6 +1924,18 @@ flow_verbs_translate(struct rte_eth_dev *dev,
 			item_flags |= tunnel ? MLX5_FLOW_LAYER_INNER_L4_UDP :
 					       MLX5_FLOW_LAYER_OUTER_L4_UDP;
 			break;
+#ifdef HAVE_IBV_FLOW_SPEC_ESP
+		case RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_ESP:
+			flow_verbs_translate_item_esp(dev_flow, items,
+						      item_flags);
+			dev_flow->hash_fields |=
+				mlx5_flow_hashfields_adjust
+				(rss_desc, tunnel,
+				RTE_ETH_RSS_ESP,
+				IBV_RX_HASH_IPSEC_SPI);
+			item_flags |= MLX5_FLOW_ITEM_ESP;
+			break;
+#endif
 		case RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_VXLAN:
 			flow_verbs_translate_item_vxlan(dev_flow, items,
 							item_flags);
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/windows/mlx5_flow_os.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/windows/mlx5_flow_os.c
index 5013e9f012..b9c767ee14 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/windows/mlx5_flow_os.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/windows/mlx5_flow_os.c
@@ -419,8 +419,8 @@ mlx5_flow_os_set_specific_workspace(struct mlx5_flow_workspace *data)
 
 int
 mlx5_flow_os_validate_item_esp(const struct rte_flow_item *item,
-			    uint64_t item_flags,
-			    uint8_t target_protocol,
+			    uint64_t item_flags __rte_unused,
+			    uint8_t target_protocol __rte_unused,
 			    struct rte_flow_error *error)
 {
 	const struct rte_flow_item_esp *mask = item->mask;
@@ -432,6 +432,11 @@ mlx5_flow_os_validate_item_esp(const struct rte_flow_item *item,
 				      MLX5_FLOW_LAYER_OUTER_L4;
 	int ret;
 
+#ifndef HAVE_IBV_FLOW_SPEC_ESP
+	return rte_flow_error_set(error, ENOTSUP,
+					  RTE_FLOW_ERROR_TYPE_ITEM, item,
+					  "ESP item not supported");
+#endif
 	if (!(item_flags & l3m))
 		return rte_flow_error_set(error, EINVAL,
 					  RTE_FLOW_ERROR_TYPE_ITEM, item,
