diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst b/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
index 9a9f4a6bb..26f02f6bc 100644
--- a/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
@@ -270,6 +270,11 @@ responses for the same from PF.
       192.168.0.2', dst="192.168.0.3")/TCP(flags='S')/Raw(load='XXXXXXXXXX'), \
       iface="enp24s0f0", count=10)
 
+DCF will not explicitly call VIRTCHNL_OP_DCF_DISABLE during uninit if DCF PMD
+is required to support multiple instances co-exist. When two DPDK DCF instances
+are probed, the later one will take over the DCF capability from the first one.
+This is hinted by devargs "cap=mdcf".
+
 Sample Application Notes
 ------------------------
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/iavf/iavf_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/iavf/iavf_ethdev.c
index e09efffd1..fe734e9c5 100644
--- a/drivers/net/iavf/iavf_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/iavf/iavf_ethdev.c
@@ -1495,7 +1495,7 @@ static int
 iavf_dcf_cap_check_handler(__rte_unused const char *key,
 			   const char *value, __rte_unused void *opaque)
 {
-	if (strcmp(value, "dcf"))
+	if (strcmp(value, "dcf") && strcmp(value, "mdcf"))
 		return -1;
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.c b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.c
index 6ec32d010..7dcf659e5 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.c
@@ -641,7 +641,8 @@ ice_dcf_init_hw(struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev, struct ice_dcf_hw *hw)
 
 	if (ice_dcf_get_vf_vsi_map(hw) < 0) {
 		PMD_INIT_LOG(ERR, "Failed to get VF VSI map");
-		ice_dcf_mode_disable(hw);
+		if (!hw->multi_inst)
+			ice_dcf_mode_disable(hw);
 		goto err_alloc;
 	}
 
@@ -700,7 +701,8 @@ ice_dcf_uninit_hw(struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev, struct ice_dcf_hw *hw)
 	rte_intr_callback_unregister(intr_handle,
 				     ice_dcf_dev_interrupt_handler, hw);
 
-	ice_dcf_mode_disable(hw);
+	if (!hw->multi_inst)
+		ice_dcf_mode_disable(hw);
 	iavf_shutdown_adminq(&hw->avf);
 
 	rte_free(hw->arq_buf);
diff --git a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.h b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.h
index 7e4d48fc5..4d57759f6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf.h
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ struct ice_dcf_hw {
 	uint16_t vsi_id;
 
 	struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev;
+	bool multi_inst;
 	uint8_t *rss_lut;
 	uint8_t *rss_key;
 	uint64_t supported_rxdid;
diff --git a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_ethdev.c
index a1b1ffb56..0ec9bd5c1 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_ethdev.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <rte_malloc.h>
 #include <rte_memzone.h>
 #include <rte_dev.h>
+#include <rte_ethdev.h>
 
 #include <iavf_devids.h>
 
@@ -878,11 +879,64 @@ static const struct eth_dev_ops ice_dcf_eth_dev_ops = {
 	.filter_ctrl             = ice_dcf_dev_filter_ctrl,
 };
 
+static int
+ice_dcf_cap_check_handler(__rte_unused const char *key,
+			  const char *value, void *opaque)
+{
+	bool *mi = opaque;
+
+	if (!strcmp(value, "dcf")) {
+		*mi = 0;
+		return 0;
+	}
+	if (!strcmp(value, "mdcf")) {
+		*mi = 1;
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	return -1;
+}
+
+static int
+ice_dcf_cap_selected(struct ice_dcf_adapter *adapter,
+		      struct rte_devargs *devargs)
+{
+	struct rte_kvargs *kvlist;
+	const char *key = "cap";
+	int ret = 0;
+
+	if (devargs == NULL)
+		return 0;
+
+	kvlist = rte_kvargs_parse(devargs->args, NULL);
+	if (kvlist == NULL)
+		return 0;
+
+	if (!rte_kvargs_count(kvlist, key))
+		goto exit;
+
+	/* dcf capability selected when there's a key-value pair: cap=dcf */
+	if (rte_kvargs_process(kvlist, key,
+			       ice_dcf_cap_check_handler,
+			       &adapter->real_hw.multi_inst) < 0)
+		goto exit;
+
+	ret = 1;
+
+exit:
+	rte_kvargs_free(kvlist);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static int
 ice_dcf_dev_init(struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev)
 {
+	struct rte_pci_device *pci_dev = RTE_DEV_TO_PCI(eth_dev->device);
 	struct ice_dcf_adapter *adapter = eth_dev->data->dev_private;
 
+	if (!ice_dcf_cap_selected(adapter, pci_dev->device.devargs))
+		return 1;
+
 	eth_dev->dev_ops = &ice_dcf_eth_dev_ops;
 	eth_dev->rx_pkt_burst = ice_dcf_recv_pkts;
 	eth_dev->tx_pkt_burst = ice_dcf_xmit_pkts;
@@ -915,51 +969,9 @@ ice_dcf_dev_uninit(struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int
-ice_dcf_cap_check_handler(__rte_unused const char *key,
-			  const char *value, __rte_unused void *opaque)
-{
-	if (strcmp(value, "dcf"))
-		return -1;
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static int
-ice_dcf_cap_selected(struct rte_devargs *devargs)
-{
-	struct rte_kvargs *kvlist;
-	const char *key = "cap";
-	int ret = 0;
-
-	if (devargs == NULL)
-		return 0;
-
-	kvlist = rte_kvargs_parse(devargs->args, NULL);
-	if (kvlist == NULL)
-		return 0;
-
-	if (!rte_kvargs_count(kvlist, key))
-		goto exit;
-
-	/* dcf capability selected when there's a key-value pair: cap=dcf */
-	if (rte_kvargs_process(kvlist, key,
-			       ice_dcf_cap_check_handler, NULL) < 0)
-		goto exit;
-
-	ret = 1;
-
-exit:
-	rte_kvargs_free(kvlist);
-	return ret;
-}
-
 static int eth_ice_dcf_pci_probe(__rte_unused struct rte_pci_driver *pci_drv,
 			     struct rte_pci_device *pci_dev)
 {
-	if (!ice_dcf_cap_selected(pci_dev->device.devargs))
-		return 1;
-
 	return rte_eth_dev_pci_generic_probe(pci_dev,
 					     sizeof(struct ice_dcf_adapter),
 					     ice_dcf_dev_init);
@@ -985,4 +997,4 @@ static struct rte_pci_driver rte_ice_dcf_pmd = {
 RTE_PMD_REGISTER_PCI(net_ice_dcf, rte_ice_dcf_pmd);
 RTE_PMD_REGISTER_PCI_TABLE(net_ice_dcf, pci_id_ice_dcf_map);
 RTE_PMD_REGISTER_KMOD_DEP(net_ice_dcf, "* igb_uio | vfio-pci");
-RTE_PMD_REGISTER_PARAM_STRING(net_ice_dcf, "cap=dcf");
+RTE_PMD_REGISTER_PARAM_STRING(net_ice_dcf, "cap=dcf|mdcf");
diff --git a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_parent.c b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_parent.c
index 8ad8bea1a..b4e200ccb 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_parent.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ice/ice_dcf_parent.c
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ ice_dcf_vsi_update_service_handler(void *param)
 {
 	struct ice_dcf_hw *hw = param;
 
+	if (hw->multi_inst)
+		return NULL;
+
 	usleep(ICE_DCF_VSI_UPDATE_SERVICE_INTERVAL);
 
 	rte_spinlock_lock(&vsi_update_lock);
diff --git a/drivers/net/ice/ice_switch_filter.c b/drivers/net/ice/ice_switch_filter.c
index 993044f88..4b5fa6125 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ice/ice_switch_filter.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ice/ice_switch_filter.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "ice_ethdev.h"
 #include "ice_generic_flow.h"
 #include "ice_dcf_ethdev.h"
+#include "ice_dcf.h"
 
 
 #define MAX_QGRP_NUM_TYPE 7
@@ -358,9 +359,10 @@ ice_switch_destroy(struct ice_adapter *ad,
 		struct rte_flow *flow,
 		struct rte_flow_error *error)
 {
+	struct ice_dcf_hw *dcf_hw = ad->hw.aq_send_cmd_param;
+	struct ice_rule_query_data *filter_ptr;
 	struct ice_hw *hw = &ad->hw;
 	int ret;
-	struct ice_rule_query_data *filter_ptr;
 
 	filter_ptr = (struct ice_rule_query_data *)
 		flow->rule;
@@ -374,7 +376,7 @@ ice_switch_destroy(struct ice_adapter *ad,
 	}
 
 	ret = ice_rem_adv_rule_by_id(hw, filter_ptr);
-	if (ret) {
+	if (ret && !(hw->dcf_enabled && dcf_hw->multi_inst)) {
 		rte_flow_error_set(error, EINVAL,
 			RTE_FLOW_ERROR_TYPE_HANDLE, NULL,
 			"fail to destroy switch filter rule");
@@ -382,7 +384,7 @@ ice_switch_destroy(struct ice_adapter *ad,
 	}
 
 	rte_free(filter_ptr);
-	return ret;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static void
