diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/bsdapp/eal/eal_memory.c b/lib/librte_eal/bsdapp/eal/eal_memory.c
index 10c2e121f..d8882dcef 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/bsdapp/eal/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/bsdapp/eal/eal_memory.c
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ rte_eal_hugepage_init(void)
 	/* for debug purposes, hugetlbfs can be disabled */
 	if (internal_config.no_hugetlbfs) {
 		addr = malloc(internal_config.memory);
-		mcfg->memseg[0].phys_addr = (iova_addr_t)(uintptr_t)addr;
+		mcfg->memseg[0].iova_addr = (iova_addr_t)(uintptr_t)addr;
 		mcfg->memseg[0].addr = addr;
 		mcfg->memseg[0].hugepage_sz = RTE_PGSIZE_4K;
 		mcfg->memseg[0].len = internal_config.memory;
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ rte_eal_hugepage_init(void)
 
 			seg = &mcfg->memseg[seg_idx++];
 			seg->addr = addr;
-			seg->phys_addr = physaddr;
+			seg->iova_addr = (iova_addr_t)physaddr;
 			seg->hugepage_sz = hpi->hugepage_sz;
 			seg->len = hpi->hugepage_sz;
 			seg->nchannel = mcfg->nchannel;
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_memory.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_memory.c
index 996877ef5..5ed83d20a 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_memory.c
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ rte_dump_physmem_layout(FILE *f)
 		       "virt:%p, socket_id:%"PRId32", "
 		       "hugepage_sz:%"PRIu64", nchannel:%"PRIx32", "
 		       "nrank:%"PRIx32"\n", i,
-		       mcfg->memseg[i].phys_addr,
+		       mcfg->memseg[i].iova_addr,
 		       mcfg->memseg[i].len,
 		       mcfg->memseg[i].addr,
 		       mcfg->memseg[i].socket_id,
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_memory.h b/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_memory.h
index d05f53ad7..93e7a819f 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_memory.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_memory.h
@@ -94,14 +94,14 @@ enum rte_page_sizes {
  */
 #define __rte_cache_min_aligned __rte_aligned(RTE_CACHE_LINE_MIN_SIZE)
 
-typedef uint64_t iova_addr_t; /**< Physical address definition. */
+typedef uint64_t iova_addr_t; /**< Iova address definition. */
 #define RTE_BAD_PHYS_ADDR ((iova_addr_t)-1)
 
 /**
  * Physical memory segment descriptor.
  */
 struct rte_memseg {
-	iova_addr_t phys_addr;      /**< Start physical address. */
+	iova_addr_t iova_addr;      /**< Start iova(_pa or _va) address. */
 	RTE_STD_C11
 	union {
 		void *addr;         /**< Start virtual address. */
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c
index e817d70ca..506d7a415 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/rte_malloc.c
@@ -255,13 +255,13 @@ rte_malloc_virt2phy(const void *addr)
 	const struct malloc_elem *elem = malloc_elem_from_data(addr);
 	if (elem == NULL)
 		return RTE_BAD_PHYS_ADDR;
-	if (elem->ms->phys_addr == RTE_BAD_PHYS_ADDR)
+	if (elem->ms->iova_addr == RTE_BAD_PHYS_ADDR)
 		return RTE_BAD_PHYS_ADDR;
 
 	if (rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA)
 		paddr = (uintptr_t)addr;
 	else
-		paddr = elem->ms->phys_addr +
+		paddr = elem->ms->iova_addr +
 			((uintptr_t)addr - (uintptr_t)elem->ms->addr);
 	return paddr;
 }
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
index 9c94c4ca9..603164d77 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_memory.c
@@ -1031,9 +1031,9 @@ rte_eal_hugepage_init(void)
 			return -1;
 		}
 		if (rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA)
-			mcfg->memseg[0].phys_addr = (uintptr_t)addr;
+			mcfg->memseg[0].iova_addr = (uintptr_t)addr;
 		else
-			mcfg->memseg[0].phys_addr = RTE_BAD_PHYS_ADDR;
+			mcfg->memseg[0].iova_addr = RTE_BAD_PHYS_ADDR;
 		mcfg->memseg[0].addr = addr;
 		mcfg->memseg[0].hugepage_sz = RTE_PGSIZE_4K;
 		mcfg->memseg[0].len = internal_config.memory;
@@ -1282,7 +1282,7 @@ rte_eal_hugepage_init(void)
 			if (j == RTE_MAX_MEMSEG)
 				break;
 
-			mcfg->memseg[j].phys_addr = hugepage[i].physaddr;
+			mcfg->memseg[j].iova_addr = hugepage[i].physaddr;
 			mcfg->memseg[j].addr = hugepage[i].final_va;
 			mcfg->memseg[j].len = hugepage[i].size;
 			mcfg->memseg[j].socket_id = hugepage[i].socket_id;
@@ -1293,7 +1293,7 @@ rte_eal_hugepage_init(void)
 #ifdef RTE_ARCH_PPC_64
 		/* Use the phy and virt address of the last page as segment
 		 * address for IBM Power architecture */
-			mcfg->memseg[j].phys_addr = hugepage[i].physaddr;
+			mcfg->memseg[j].iova_addr = hugepage[i].physaddr;
 			mcfg->memseg[j].addr = hugepage[i].final_va;
 #endif
 			mcfg->memseg[j].len += mcfg->memseg[j].hugepage_sz;
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c
index 9d66247bc..32b090325 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linuxapp/eal/eal_vfio.c
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ vfio_type1_dma_map(int vfio_container_fd)
 		if (rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA)
 			dma_map.iova = dma_map.vaddr;
 		else
-			dma_map.iova = ms[i].phys_addr;
+			dma_map.iova = ms[i].iova_addr;
 		dma_map.flags = VFIO_DMA_MAP_FLAG_READ | VFIO_DMA_MAP_FLAG_WRITE;
 
 		ret = ioctl(vfio_container_fd, VFIO_IOMMU_MAP_DMA, &dma_map);
@@ -768,7 +768,7 @@ vfio_spapr_dma_map(int vfio_container_fd)
 			break;
 
 		create.window_size = RTE_MAX(create.window_size,
-				ms[i].phys_addr + ms[i].len);
+				ms[i].iova_addr + ms[i].len);
 	}
 
 	/* sPAPR requires window size to be a power of 2 */
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ vfio_spapr_dma_map(int vfio_container_fd)
 		if (rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA)
 			dma_map.iova = dma_map.vaddr;
 		else
-			dma_map.iova = ms[i].phys_addr;
+			dma_map.iova = ms[i].iova_addr;
 		dma_map.flags = VFIO_DMA_MAP_FLAG_READ |
 				 VFIO_DMA_MAP_FLAG_WRITE;
 
