diff --git a/drivers/net/bnxt/bnxt_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/bnxt/bnxt_ethdev.c
index 22c880c5c3..1a276c9b9e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/bnxt/bnxt_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/bnxt/bnxt_ethdev.c
@@ -5618,6 +5618,13 @@ static int bnxt_rep_port_probe(struct rte_pci_device *pci_dev,
 	int i, ret = 0;
 	struct rte_kvargs *kvlist = NULL;
 
+	if (eth_da->type == RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_NONE)
+		return 0;
+	if (eth_da->type != RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_VF) {
+		PMD_DRV_LOG(ERR, "unsupported representor type %d\n",
+			    eth_da->type);
+		return -ENOTSUP;
+	}
 	num_rep = eth_da->nb_representor_ports;
 	if (num_rep > BNXT_MAX_VF_REPS) {
 		PMD_DRV_LOG(ERR, "nb_representor_ports = %d > %d MAX VF REPS\n",
diff --git a/drivers/net/enic/enic_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/enic/enic_ethdev.c
index b3f441c8f7..def669f411 100644
--- a/drivers/net/enic/enic_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/enic/enic_ethdev.c
@@ -1312,6 +1312,12 @@ static int eth_enic_pci_probe(struct rte_pci_driver *pci_drv __rte_unused,
 		if (retval)
 			return retval;
 	}
+	if (eth_da.nb_representor_ports > 0 &&
+	    eth_da.type != RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_VF) {
+		ENICPMD_LOG(ERR, "unsupported representor type: %s\n",
+			    pci_dev->device.devargs->args);
+		return -ENOTSUP;
+	}
 	retval = rte_eth_dev_create(&pci_dev->device, pci_dev->device.name,
 		sizeof(struct enic),
 		eth_dev_pci_specific_init, pci_dev,
diff --git a/drivers/net/i40e/i40e_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/i40e/i40e_ethdev.c
index d7cd049891..9b86bcdc69 100644
--- a/drivers/net/i40e/i40e_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/i40e/i40e_ethdev.c
@@ -639,6 +639,13 @@ eth_i40e_pci_probe(struct rte_pci_driver *pci_drv __rte_unused,
 			return retval;
 	}
 
+	if (eth_da.nb_representor_ports > 0 &&
+	    eth_da.type != RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_VF) {
+		PMD_DRV_LOG(ERR, "unsupported representor type: %s\n",
+			    pci_dev->device.devargs->args);
+		return -ENOTSUP;
+	}
+
 	retval = rte_eth_dev_create(&pci_dev->device, pci_dev->device.name,
 		sizeof(struct i40e_adapter),
 		eth_dev_pci_specific_init, pci_dev,
diff --git a/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_ethdev.c
index 761a0f26bb..8a9a21e7c2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ixgbe/ixgbe_ethdev.c
@@ -1718,6 +1718,13 @@ eth_ixgbe_pci_probe(struct rte_pci_driver *pci_drv __rte_unused,
 	} else
 		memset(&eth_da, 0, sizeof(eth_da));
 
+	if (eth_da.nb_representor_ports > 0 &&
+	    eth_da.type != RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_VF) {
+		PMD_DRV_LOG(ERR, "unsupported representor type: %s\n",
+			    pci_dev->device.devargs->args);
+		return -ENOTSUP;
+	}
+
 	retval = rte_eth_dev_create(&pci_dev->device, pci_dev->device.name,
 		sizeof(struct ixgbe_adapter),
 		eth_dev_pci_specific_init, pci_dev,
diff --git a/drivers/net/mlx5/linux/mlx5_os.c b/drivers/net/mlx5/linux/mlx5_os.c
index 2dc079779d..b041e1752d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mlx5/linux/mlx5_os.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mlx5/linux/mlx5_os.c
@@ -704,6 +704,17 @@ mlx5_dev_spawn(struct rte_device *dpdk_dev,
 				strerror(rte_errno));
 			return NULL;
 		}
+		if (eth_da.type == RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_NONE) {
+			/* Representor not specified. */
+			rte_errno = EBUSY;
+			return NULL;
+		}
+		if (eth_da.type != RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_VF) {
+			rte_errno = ENOTSUP;
+			DRV_LOG(ERR, "unsupported representor type: %s",
+				dpdk_dev->devargs->args);
+			return NULL;
+		}
 		for (i = 0; i < eth_da.nb_representor_ports; ++i)
 			if (eth_da.representor_ports[i] ==
 			    (uint16_t)switch_info->port_name)
diff --git a/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_driver.h b/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_driver.h
index 57fdedaa1a..d68b8401e7 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_driver.h
+++ b/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_driver.h
@@ -1216,7 +1216,11 @@ __rte_internal
 int
 rte_eth_switch_domain_free(uint16_t domain_id);
 
-/** Generic Ethernet device arguments  */
+/**
+ * Generic Ethernet device arguments
+ *
+ * One type of representor each structure.
+ */
 struct rte_eth_devargs {
 	uint16_t ports[RTE_MAX_ETHPORTS];
 	/** port/s number to enable on a multi-port single function */
@@ -1226,6 +1230,7 @@ struct rte_eth_devargs {
 	/** representor port/s identifier to enable on device */
 	uint16_t nb_representor_ports;
 	/** number of ports in representor port field */
+	enum rte_eth_representor_type type; /* type of representor */
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_private.c b/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_private.c
index 5960c75cc5..2d51e3857a 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_private.c
+++ b/lib/librte_ethdev/ethdev_private.c
@@ -111,11 +111,16 @@ rte_eth_devargs_process_range(char *str, uint16_t *list, uint16_t *len_list,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * representor format:
+ *   #: range or single number of VF representor
+ */
 int
 rte_eth_devargs_parse_representor_ports(char *str, void *data)
 {
 	struct rte_eth_devargs *eth_da = data;
 
+	eth_da->type = RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_VF;
 	return rte_eth_devargs_process_range(str, eth_da->representor_ports,
 		&eth_da->nb_representor_ports, RTE_MAX_ETHPORTS);
 }
diff --git a/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_ethdev.h b/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_ethdev.h
index 059a061072..1f378958ca 100644
--- a/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_ethdev.h
+++ b/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_ethdev.h
@@ -1506,6 +1506,14 @@ struct rte_eth_rxseg_capa {
  * Ethernet device information
  */
 
+/**
+ * Ethernet device representor port type.
+ */
+enum rte_eth_representor_type {
+	RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_NONE, /**< not a representor. */
+	RTE_ETH_REPRESENTOR_VF,   /**< representor of Virtual Function. */
+};
+
 /**
  * A structure used to retrieve the contextual information of
  * an Ethernet device, such as the controlling driver of the
