diff --git a/devtools/validate-abi.sh b/devtools/validate-abi.sh
index 0accc99b1..d747db189 100755
--- a/devtools/validate-abi.sh
+++ b/devtools/validate-abi.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 #   BSD LICENSE
 #
 #   Copyright(c) 2015 Neil Horman. All rights reserved.
+#   Copyright(c) 2017 6WIND S.A.
 #   All rights reserved.
 #
 #   Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -27,236 +28,240 @@
 #   (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 #   OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
-TAG1=$1
-TAG2=$2
-TARGET=$3
-ABI_DIR=`mktemp -d -p /tmp ABI.XXXXXX`
+set -e
 
-usage() {
-	echo "$0 <REV1> <REV2> <TARGET>"
-}
+abicheck=abi-compliance-checker
+abidump=abi-dumper
+default_dst=abi-check
+default_target=x86_64-native-linuxapp-gcc
 
-log() {
-	local level=$1
-	shift
-	echo "$*"
+# trap on error
+err_report() {
+    echo "$0: error at line $1"
 }
+trap 'err_report $LINENO' ERR
 
-validate_tags() {
+print_usage () {
+	cat <<- END_OF_HELP
+	$(basename $0) [options] <rev1> <rev2>
 
-	if [ -z "$HASH1" ]
-	then
-		echo "invalid revision: $TAG1"
-		return
-	fi
-	if [ -z "$HASH2" ]
-	then
-		echo "invalid revision: $TAG2"
-		return
-	fi
+	This script compares the ABI of 2 git revisions of the current
+	workspace. The output is a html report and a compilation log.
+
+	The objective is to make sure that applications built against
+	DSOs from the first revision can still run when executed using
+	the DSOs built from the second revision.
+
+	<rev1> and <rev2> are git commit id or tags.
+
+	Options:
+	  -h		show this help
+	  -j <num>	enable parallel compilation with <num> threads
+	  -v		show compilation logs on the console
+	  -d <dir>	change working directory (default is ${default_dst})
+	  -t <target>	the dpdk target to use (default is ${default_target})
+	  -f		overwrite existing files in destination directory
+
+	The script returns 0 on success, or the value of last failing
+	call of ${abicheck} (incompatible abi or the tool has run with errors).
+	The errors returned by ${abidump} are ignored.
+
+	END_OF_HELP
 }
 
-validate_args() {
-	if [ -z "$TAG1" ]
-	then
-		echo "Must Specify REV1"
-		return
-	fi
-	if [ -z "$TAG2" ]
-	then
-		echo "Must Specify REV2"
-		return
-	fi
-	if [ -z "$TARGET" ]
-	then
-		echo "Must Specify a build target"
+# log in the file, and on stdout if verbose
+# $1: level string
+# $2: string to be logged
+log() {
+	echo "$1: $2"
+	if [ "${verbose}" != "true" ]; then
+		echo "$1: $2" >&3
 	fi
 }
 
+# launch a command and log it, taking care of surrounding spaces with quotes
+cmd() {
+	local i s whitespace
+	s=""
+	whitespace="[[:space:]]"
+	for i in "$@"; do
+		if [[ $i =~ $whitespace ]]; then
+			i=\"$i\"
+		fi
+		if [ -z "$s" ]; then
+			s="$i"
+		else
+			s="$s $i"
+		fi
+	done
+
+	log "CMD" "$s"
+	"$@"
+}
 
-cleanup_and_exit() {
-	rm -rf $ABI_DIR
-	git checkout $CURRENT_BRANCH
-	exit $1
+# redirect or copy stderr/stdout to a file
+# the syntax is unfamiliar, but it makes the rest of the
+# code easier to read, avoiding the use of pipes
+set_log_file() {
+	# save original stdout and stderr in fd 3 and 4
+	exec 3>&1
+	exec 4>&2
+	# create a new fd 5 that send to a file
+	exec 5> >(cat > $1)
+	# send stdout and stderr to fd 5
+	if [ "${verbose}" = "true" ]; then
+		exec 1> >(tee /dev/fd/5 >&3)
+		exec 2> >(tee /dev/fd/5 >&4)
+	else
+		exec 1>&5
+		exec 2>&5
+	fi
 }
 
 # Make sure we configure SHARED libraries
 # Also turn off IGB and KNI as those require kernel headers to build
 fixup_config() {
-	sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_BUILD_SHARED_LIB=y" config/defconfig_$TARGET
-	sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_NEXT_ABI=n" config/defconfig_$TARGET
-	sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_EAL_IGB_UIO=n" config/defconfig_$TARGET
-	sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_KNI=n" config/defconfig_$TARGET
-	sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_KNI_KMOD=n" config/defconfig_$TARGET
+	local conf=config/defconfig_$target
+	cmd sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_BUILD_SHARED_LIB=y" $conf
+	cmd sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_NEXT_ABI=n" $conf
+	cmd sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_EAL_IGB_UIO=n" $conf
+	cmd sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_KNI=n" $conf
+	cmd sed -i -e"$ a\CONFIG_RTE_KNI_KMOD=n" $conf
 }
 
-###########################################
-#START
-############################################
+# build dpdk for the given tag and dump abi
+# $1: hash of the revision
+gen_abi() {
+	cmd git clone $(dirname $0)/.. ${dst}/${1}
+	cmd cd ${dst}/${1}
+
+	log "INFO" "Checking out version ${1} of the dpdk"
+	# Move to the old version of the tree
+	cmd git checkout ${1}
+
+	fixup_config
+
+	# Now configure the build
+	log "INFO" "Configuring DPDK ${1}"
+	cmd make config T=$target O=$target > ${dst}/log 2>&1
+
+	# Checking abi compliance relies on using the dwarf information in
+	# the shared objects. Build with -g to include them.
+	log "INFO" "Building DPDK ${1}. This might take a moment"
+	cmd make -j$parallel O=$target V=1 EXTRA_CFLAGS="-g -O0" \
+	    EXTRA_LDFLAGS="-g" || log "INFO" "The build failed"
+
+	# Move to the lib directory
+	cmd cd ${PWD}/$target/lib
+	log "INFO" "Collecting ABI information for ${1}"
+	for i in *.so; do
+		[ -e "$i" ] || break
+		cmd $abidump ${i} -o $dst/${1}/${i}.dump -lver ${1} || true
+		# hack to ignore empty SymbolsInfo section (no public ABI)
+		if grep -q "'SymbolInfo' => {}," $dst/${1}/${i}.dump \
+				2> /dev/null; then
+			log "INFO" "${i} has no public ABI, remove dump file"
+			cmd rm -f $dst/${1}/${i}.dump
+		fi
+	done
+	cmd cd ../..
+}
 
-#trap on ctrl-c to clean up
-trap cleanup_and_exit SIGINT
+verbose=false
+parallel=1
+dst=${default_dst}
+target=${default_target}
+force=0
+while getopts j:vd:t:fh ARG ; do
+	case $ARG in
+		j ) parallel=$OPTARG ;;
+		v ) verbose=true ;;
+		d ) dst=$OPTARG ;;
+		t ) target=$OPTARG ;;
+		f ) force=1 ;;
+		h ) print_usage ; exit 0 ;;
+		? ) print_usage ; exit 1 ;;
+	esac
+done
+shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
 
-if [ -z "$DPDK_MAKE_JOBS" ]
-then
-	# This counts the number of cpus on the system
-	if [ -e /usr/bin/lscpu ]
-	then
-		DPDK_MAKE_JOBS=`lscpu -p=cpu | grep -v "#" | wc -l`
-	else
-		DPDK_MAKE_JOBS=1
-	fi
+if [ $# != 2 ]; then
+	print_usage
+	exit 1
 fi
 
-#Save the current branch
-CURRENT_BRANCH=`git branch | grep \* | cut -d' ' -f2`
+tag1=$1
+tag2=$2
 
-if [ -z "$CURRENT_BRANCH" ]
-then
-	CURRENT_BRANCH=`git log --pretty=format:%H HEAD~1..HEAD`
-fi
+# convert path to absolute
+case "${dst}" in
+	/*) ;;
+	*) dst=${PWD}/${dst} ;;
+esac
 
-if [ -n "$VERBOSE" ]
-then
-	export VERBOSE=/dev/stdout
-else
-	export VERBOSE=/dev/null
+if [ -e "${dst}" -a "$force" = 0 ]; then
+	echo "The ${dst} directory is not empty. Remove it, use another"
+	echo "one (-d <dir>), or force overriding (-f)"
+	exit 1
 fi
 
-# Validate that we have all the arguments we need
-res=$(validate_args)
-if [ -n "$res" ]
-then
-	echo $res
-	usage
-	cleanup_and_exit 1
-fi
+rm -rf ${dst}
+mkdir -p ${dst}
+set_log_file ${dst}/abi-check.log
+log "INFO" "Logs available in ${dst}/abi-check.log"
 
-HASH1=$(git show -s --format=%H "$TAG1" -- 2> /dev/null | tail -1)
-HASH2=$(git show -s --format=%H "$TAG2" -- 2> /dev/null | tail -1)
+command -v ${abicheck} || log "INFO" "Can't find ${abicheck} utility"
+command -v ${abidump} || log "INFO" "Can't find ${abidump} utility"
 
-# Make sure our tags exist
-res=$(validate_tags)
-if [ -n "$res" ]
-then
-	echo $res
-	cleanup_and_exit 1
-fi
+hash1=$(git show -s --format=%h "$tag1" -- 2> /dev/null | tail -1)
+hash2=$(git show -s --format=%h "$tag2" -- 2> /dev/null | tail -1)
 
 # Make hashes available in output for non-local reference
-TAG1="$TAG1 ($HASH1)"
-TAG2="$TAG2 ($HASH2)"
-
-ABICHECK=`which abi-compliance-checker 2>/dev/null`
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	log "INFO" "Can't find abi-compliance-checker utility"
-	cleanup_and_exit 1
-fi
-
-ABIDUMP=`which abi-dumper 2>/dev/null`
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	log "INFO" "Can't find abi-dumper utility"
-	cleanup_and_exit 1
-fi
+tag1="$tag1 ($hash1)"
+tag2="$tag2 ($hash2)"
 
-log "INFO" "We're going to check and make sure that applications built"
-log "INFO" "against DPDK DSOs from version $TAG1 will still run when executed"
-log "INFO" "against DPDK DSOs built from version $TAG2."
-log "INFO" ""
-
-# Check to make sure we have a clean tree
-git status | grep -q clean
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	log "WARN" "Working directory not clean, aborting"
-	cleanup_and_exit 1
+if [ "$hash1" = "$hash2" ]; then
+	log "ERROR" "$tag1 and $tag2 are the same revisions"
+	exit 1
 fi
 
-# Move to the root of the git tree
-cd $(dirname $0)/..
+cmd mkdir -p ${dst}
 
-log "INFO" "Checking out version $TAG1 of the dpdk"
-# Move to the old version of the tree
-git checkout $HASH1
+# dump abi for each revision
+gen_abi ${hash1}
+gen_abi ${hash2}
 
-fixup_config
+# compare the abi dumps
+ret=0
+list=""
+for i in ${dst}/${hash2}/*.dump; do
+	name=`basename $i`
+	libname=${name%.dump}
 
-# Checking abi compliance relies on using the dwarf information in
-# The shared objects.  Thats only included in the DSO's if we build
-# with -g
-export EXTRA_CFLAGS="$EXTRA_CFLAGS -g -O0"
-export EXTRA_LDFLAGS="$EXTRA_LDFLAGS -g"
-
-# Now configure the build
-log "INFO" "Configuring DPDK $TAG1"
-make config T=$TARGET O=$TARGET > $VERBOSE 2>&1
-
-log "INFO" "Building DPDK $TAG1. This might take a moment"
-make -j$DPDK_MAKE_JOBS O=$TARGET > $VERBOSE 2>&1
-
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	log "INFO" "THE BUILD FAILED.  ABORTING"
-	cleanup_and_exit 1
-fi
+	if [ ! -f $dst/${hash1}/$name ]; then
+		log "INFO" "$NAME does not exist in $tag1. skipping..."
+		continue
+	fi
 
-# Move to the lib directory
-cd $TARGET/lib
-log "INFO" "COLLECTING ABI INFORMATION FOR $TAG1"
-for i in `ls *.so`
-do
-	$ABIDUMP $i -o $ABI_DIR/$i-ABI-0.dump -lver $HASH1
+	local_ret=0
+	cmd $abicheck -l $libname \
+	    -old $dst/${hash1}/$name -new $dst/${hash2}/$name || local_ret=$?
+	if [ $local_ret != 0 ]; then
+		log "NOTICE" "$abicheck returned $local_ret"
+		ret=$local_ret
+		list="$list $libname"
+	fi
 done
-cd ../..
-
-# Now clean the tree, checkout the second tag, and rebuild
-git clean -f -d
-git reset --hard
-# Move to the new version of the tree
-log "INFO" "Checking out version $TAG2 of the dpdk"
-git checkout $HASH2
-
-fixup_config
-
-# Now configure the build
-log "INFO" "Configuring DPDK $TAG2"
-make config T=$TARGET O=$TARGET > $VERBOSE 2>&1
-
-log "INFO" "Building DPDK $TAG2. This might take a moment"
-make -j$DPDK_MAKE_JOBS O=$TARGET > $VERBOSE 2>&1
 
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	log "INFO" "THE BUILD FAILED.  ABORTING"
-	cleanup_and_exit 1
+if [ $ret != 0 ]; then
+	log "NOTICE" "At least one call to $abicheck returned an error."
+	log "NOTICE" "ABI may be incompatible, please check logs for details."
+	log "NOTICE" "Incompatible list: $list"
+else
+	log "NOTICE" "No error detected, ABI is compatible."
 fi
 
-cd $TARGET/lib
-log "INFO" "COLLECTING ABI INFORMATION FOR $TAG2"
-for i in `ls *.so`
-do
-	$ABIDUMP $i -o $ABI_DIR/$i-ABI-1.dump -lver $HASH2
-done
-cd ../..
-
-# Start comparison of ABI dumps
-for i in `ls $ABI_DIR/*-1.dump`
-do
-	NEWNAME=`basename $i`
-	OLDNAME=`basename $i | sed -e"s/1.dump/0.dump/"`
-	LIBNAME=`basename $i | sed -e"s/-ABI-1.dump//"`
-
-	if [ ! -f $ABI_DIR/$OLDNAME ]
-	then
-		log "INFO" "$OLDNAME DOES NOT EXIST IN $TAG1. SKIPPING..."
-	fi
-
-	#compare the abi dumps
-	$ABICHECK -l $LIBNAME -old $ABI_DIR/$OLDNAME -new $ABI_DIR/$NEWNAME
-done
+log "INFO" "Logs are in ${dst}/abi-check.log"
+log "INFO" "HTML reports are in ${dst}/${hash2}/compat_reports directory"
 
-git reset --hard
-log "INFO" "ABI CHECK COMPLETE.  REPORTS ARE IN compat_report directory"
-cleanup_and_exit 0
+exit $ret
