diff --git a/examples/server_node_efd/Makefile b/examples/server_node_efd/Makefile
index cc2ea8b566..e4a4a94a79 100644
--- a/examples/server_node_efd/Makefile
+++ b/examples/server_node_efd/Makefile
@@ -1,16 +1,10 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
-# Copyright(c) 2016-2017 Intel Corporation
+# Copyright(c) 2016-2020 Intel Corporation
 
-ifeq ($(RTE_SDK),)
-$(error "Please define RTE_SDK environment variable")
-endif
+subdirs := node server
 
-# Default target, detect a build directory, by looking for a path with a .config
-RTE_TARGET ?= $(notdir $(abspath $(dir $(firstword $(wildcard $(RTE_SDK)/*/.config)))))
+.PHONY: all static shared clean $(subdirs)
+all static shared clean: $(subdirs)
 
-include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.vars.mk
-
-DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_EXEC_ENV_LINUX) += server
-DIRS-$(CONFIG_RTE_EXEC_ENV_LINUX) += node
-
-include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.extsubdir.mk
+$(subdirs):
+	$(MAKE) -C $@ $(MAKECMDGOALS)
diff --git a/examples/server_node_efd/node/Makefile b/examples/server_node_efd/node/Makefile
index ecc551e1d6..a4efef42dc 100644
--- a/examples/server_node_efd/node/Makefile
+++ b/examples/server_node_efd/node/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,5 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
-# Copyright(c) 2016-2017 Intel Corporation
-
-ifeq ($(RTE_SDK),)
-$(error "Please define RTE_SDK environment variable")
-endif
-
-# Default target, can be overridden by command line or environment
-include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.vars.mk
+# Copyright(c) 2016-2020 Intel Corporation
 
 # binary name
 APP = node
@@ -14,8 +7,37 @@ APP = node
 # all source are stored in SRCS-y
 SRCS-y := node.c
 
-CFLAGS += $(WERROR_FLAGS) -O3
-CFLAGS += -I$(SRCDIR)/../shared
-CFLAGS += -DALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API
+CFLAGS += -I../shared
 
-include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.extapp.mk
+# Build using pkg-config variables if possible
+ifneq ($(shell pkg-config --exists libdpdk && echo 0),0)
+$(error "no installation of DPDK found")
+endif
+
+all: shared
+.PHONY: shared static
+shared: build/$(APP)-shared
+	ln -sf $(APP)-shared build/$(APP)
+static: build/$(APP)-static
+	ln -sf $(APP)-static build/$(APP)
+
+PKGCONF ?= pkg-config
+
+PC_FILE := $(shell $(PKGCONF) --path libdpdk 2>/dev/null)
+CFLAGS += -O3 $(shell $(PKGCONF) --cflags libdpdk)
+LDFLAGS_SHARED = $(shell $(PKGCONF) --libs libdpdk)
+LDFLAGS_STATIC = $(shell $(PKGCONF) --static --libs libdpdk)
+
+build/$(APP)-shared: $(SRCS-y) Makefile $(PC_FILE) | build
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SRCS-y) -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS_SHARED)
+
+build/$(APP)-static: $(SRCS-y) Makefile $(PC_FILE) | build
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SRCS-y) -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS_STATIC)
+
+build:
+	@mkdir -p $@
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:
+	rm -f build/$(APP) build/$(APP)-static build/$(APP)-shared
+	test -d build && rmdir -p build || true
diff --git a/examples/server_node_efd/server/Makefile b/examples/server_node_efd/server/Makefile
index acbd12ae23..106e1abd74 100644
--- a/examples/server_node_efd/server/Makefile
+++ b/examples/server_node_efd/server/Makefile
@@ -1,19 +1,5 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
-# Copyright(c) 2016-2017 Intel Corporation
-
-ifeq ($(RTE_SDK),)
-$(error "Please define RTE_SDK environment variable")
-endif
-
-# Default target, detect a build directory, by looking for a path with a .config
-RTE_TARGET ?= $(notdir $(abspath $(dir $(firstword $(wildcard $(RTE_SDK)/*/.config)))))
-
-include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.vars.mk
-
-ifneq ($(CONFIG_RTE_EXEC_ENV_LINUX),y)
-$(error This application can only operate in a linux environment, \
-please change the definition of the RTE_TARGET environment variable)
-endif
+# Copyright(c) 2016-2020 Intel Corporation
 
 # binary name
 APP = server
@@ -21,10 +7,37 @@ APP = server
 # all source are stored in SRCS-y
 SRCS-y := main.c init.c args.c
 
-INC := $(sort $(wildcard *.h))
+CFLAGS += -I../shared
 
-CFLAGS += $(WERROR_FLAGS) -O3
-CFLAGS += -I$(SRCDIR)/../shared
-CFLAGS += -DALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API
+# Build using pkg-config variables if possible
+ifneq ($(shell pkg-config --exists libdpdk && echo 0),0)
+$(error "no installation of DPDK found")
+endif
 
-include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.extapp.mk
+all: shared
+.PHONY: shared static
+shared: build/$(APP)-shared
+	ln -sf $(APP)-shared build/$(APP)
+static: build/$(APP)-static
+	ln -sf $(APP)-static build/$(APP)
+
+PKGCONF ?= pkg-config
+
+PC_FILE := $(shell $(PKGCONF) --path libdpdk 2>/dev/null)
+CFLAGS += -O3 $(shell $(PKGCONF) --cflags libdpdk)
+LDFLAGS_SHARED = $(shell $(PKGCONF) --libs libdpdk)
+LDFLAGS_STATIC = $(shell $(PKGCONF) --static --libs libdpdk)
+
+build/$(APP)-shared: $(SRCS-y) Makefile $(PC_FILE) | build
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SRCS-y) -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS_SHARED)
+
+build/$(APP)-static: $(SRCS-y) Makefile $(PC_FILE) | build
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SRCS-y) -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS_STATIC)
+
+build:
+	@mkdir -p $@
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:
+	rm -f build/$(APP) build/$(APP)-static build/$(APP)-shared
+	test -d build && rmdir -p build || true
