diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_devargs.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_devargs.c
index 2bdee9a30..a0d0e6e91 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_devargs.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_devargs.c
@@ -77,6 +77,40 @@ rte_eal_parse_devargs_str(const char *devargs_str,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Parse "bus=" argument without adding a dependency on rte_kvargs.h
+ */
+static char *parse_bus_arg(const char *args)
+{
+	const char *c;
+	char *str = NULL;
+
+	if (!args || args[0] == '\0')
+		return NULL;
+
+	c = args;
+
+	do {
+		if (strncmp(c, "bus=", 4) == 0) {
+			c += 4;
+			break;
+		}
+
+		c = strchr(c, ',');
+		if (c)
+			c++;
+	} while (c);
+
+	if (c) {
+		str = strdup(c);
+		c = strchr(str, ',');
+		if (c)
+			c = '\0';
+	}
+
+	return str;
+}
+
 static int
 devargs_add(const char *busname, const char *name, const char *args)
 {
@@ -113,64 +147,65 @@ devargs_add(const char *busname, const char *name, const char *args)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-static int
-bus_name_cmp(const struct rte_bus *bus, const void *name)
-{
-	return strncmp(bus->name, name, strlen(bus->name));
-}
-
 int
 rte_eal_devargs_parse(const char *dev, struct rte_devargs *da)
 {
-	struct rte_bus *bus = NULL;
-	const char *devname;
-	const size_t maxlen = sizeof(da->name);
-	size_t i;
+	char *busname;
+	char *devname;
+	char *drvargs;
+	int ret;
 
 	if (dev == NULL || da == NULL)
 		return -EINVAL;
-	/* Retrieve eventual bus info */
-	do {
-		devname = dev;
-		bus = rte_bus_find(bus, bus_name_cmp, dev);
-		if (bus == NULL)
-			break;
-		devname = dev + strlen(bus->name) + 1;
-		if (rte_bus_find_by_device_name(devname) == bus)
-			break;
-	} while (1);
-	/* Store device name */
-	i = 0;
-	while (devname[i] != '\0' && devname[i] != ',') {
-		da->name[i] = devname[i];
-		i++;
-		if (i == maxlen) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "WARNING: Parsing \"%s\": device name should be shorter than %zu\n",
-				dev, maxlen);
-			da->name[i - 1] = '\0';
-			return -EINVAL;
-		}
-	}
-	da->name[i] = '\0';
-	if (bus == NULL) {
-		bus = rte_bus_find_by_device_name(da->name);
+
+	ret = rte_eal_parse_devargs_str(dev, &devname, &drvargs);
+	if (ret != 0)
+		return ret;
+
+	RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "%s: adding devargs for device [%s]: %s\n",
+		__FUNCTION__, devname, drvargs);
+
+	/* Retrieve eventual bus info (...,bus=...)*/
+	busname = parse_bus_arg(drvargs);
+	if (busname == NULL) {
+		struct rte_bus *bus;
+
+		bus = rte_bus_find_by_device_name(devname);
 		if (bus == NULL) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: failed to parse device \"%s\"\n",
-				da->name);
-			return -EFAULT;
+			RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "failed to parse device [%s]\n",
+				devname);
+			ret = -EINVAL;
+			goto fail;
 		}
+
+		busname = strdup(bus->name);
 	}
-	da->bus = bus;
-	/* Parse eventual device arguments */
-	if (devname[i] == ',')
-		da->args = strdup(&devname[i + 1]);
-	else
-		da->args = strdup("");
-	if (da->args == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: not enough memory to parse arguments\n");
-		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	ret = devargs_add(busname, devname, drvargs);
+	if (ret != 0) {
+		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "devargs_add failed for device [%s]\n",
+			devname);
+		goto fail;
 	}
-	return 0;
+
+	ret = snprintf(da->busname, sizeof(da->busname), "%s", busname);
+	if (ret < 0 || ret >= (int)sizeof(da->busname))
+		goto fail;
+
+	ret = snprintf(da->name, sizeof(da->name), "%s", devname);
+	if (ret < 0 || ret >= (int)sizeof(da->name))
+		goto fail;
+
+	da->args = strdup(drvargs);
+	if (da->args == NULL)
+		ret = -ENOMEM;
+	ret = 0;
+
+fail:
+	free(busname);
+	free(devname);
+	free(drvargs);
+	return ret;
 }
 
 static const struct rte_bus_conf BUS_CONF_WHITELIST = {
diff --git a/test/test/test_devargs.c b/test/test/test_devargs.c
index 048b3d00b..3a1033ca3 100644
--- a/test/test/test_devargs.c
+++ b/test/test/test_devargs.c
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ test_devargs(void)
 {
 	struct rte_devargs_list save_devargs_list;
 	struct rte_devargs *devargs;
+	struct rte_devargs devargs_stack;
 
 	/* save the real devargs_list, it is restored at the end of the test */
 	save_devargs_list = devargs_list;
@@ -109,6 +110,24 @@ test_devargs(void)
 		goto fail;
 	free_devargs_list();
 
+	if (rte_eal_devargs_parse("", &devargs_stack) == 0) {
+		printf("Error in rte_eal_devargs_parse\n");
+		goto fail;
+	}
+
+	if (rte_eal_devargs_parse("08:00.1,foo=bar,bus=pci", &devargs_stack) != 0) {
+		printf("Error in rte_eal_devargs_parse 08:00.1,bus=pci\n");
+		goto fail;
+	}
+	devargs = TAILQ_FIRST(&devargs_list);
+	if (strcmp(devargs->name, "08:00.1") != 0)
+		goto fail;
+	if (strcmp(devargs->busname, "pci") != 0)
+		goto fail;
+	if (!devargs->args || strcmp(devargs->args, "foo=bar,bus=pci") != 0)
+		goto fail;
+
+	free_devargs_list();
 	devargs_list = save_devargs_list;
 	return 0;
 
