diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_21_11.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_21_11.rst
index 532be57ae9..6aabcbcb26 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_21_11.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_21_11.rst
@@ -220,6 +220,12 @@ ABI Changes
   to user, it still counts as an ABI change, as ``eth_rx_queue_count_t``
   is used by  public inline function ``rte_eth_rx_queue_count``.
 
+* ethdev: Made ``rte_eth_dev``, ``rte_eth_dev_data``, ``rte_eth_rxtx_callback``
+  private data structures. ``rte_eth_devices[]`` can't be accessible directly
+  by user any more. While it is an ABI breakage, this change is intended
+  to be transparent for both users (no changes in user app is required) and
+  PMD developers (no changes in PMD is required).
+
 
 Known Issues
 ------------
diff --git a/drivers/common/octeontx2/otx2_sec_idev.c b/drivers/common/octeontx2/otx2_sec_idev.c
index 6e9643c383..b561b67174 100644
--- a/drivers/common/octeontx2/otx2_sec_idev.c
+++ b/drivers/common/octeontx2/otx2_sec_idev.c
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 #include <rte_atomic.h>
 #include <rte_bus_pci.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 #include <rte_spinlock.h>
 
 #include "otx2_common.h"
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/octeontx2/otx2_cryptodev_ops.c b/drivers/crypto/octeontx2/otx2_cryptodev_ops.c
index 37fad11d91..f0b72e05c2 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/octeontx2/otx2_cryptodev_ops.c
+++ b/drivers/crypto/octeontx2/otx2_cryptodev_ops.c
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <cryptodev_pmd.h>
 #include <rte_errno.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 #include <rte_event_crypto_adapter.h>
 
 #include "otx2_cryptodev.h"
diff --git a/drivers/net/cxgbe/base/adapter.h b/drivers/net/cxgbe/base/adapter.h
index 01a2a9d147..1c7c8afe16 100644
--- a/drivers/net/cxgbe/base/adapter.h
+++ b/drivers/net/cxgbe/base/adapter.h
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #include <rte_mbuf.h>
 #include <rte_io.h>
 #include <rte_rwlock.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 
 #include "../cxgbe_compat.h"
 #include "../cxgbe_ofld.h"
diff --git a/drivers/net/dpaa2/dpaa2_ptp.c b/drivers/net/dpaa2/dpaa2_ptp.c
index 899dd5d442..8d79e39244 100644
--- a/drivers/net/dpaa2/dpaa2_ptp.c
+++ b/drivers/net/dpaa2/dpaa2_ptp.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 #include <rte_log.h>
 #include <rte_eth_ctrl.h>
 #include <rte_malloc.h>
diff --git a/drivers/net/netvsc/hn_var.h b/drivers/net/netvsc/hn_var.h
index 2a2bac9338..74e6e6010d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netvsc/hn_var.h
+++ b/drivers/net/netvsc/hn_var.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <rte_eal_paging.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 
 /*
  * Tunable ethdev params
diff --git a/lib/ethdev/ethdev_driver.h b/lib/ethdev/ethdev_driver.h
index cc2c75261c..63b04dce32 100644
--- a/lib/ethdev/ethdev_driver.h
+++ b/lib/ethdev/ethdev_driver.h
@@ -17,6 +17,155 @@
 
 #include <rte_ethdev.h>
 
+/**
+ * @internal
+ * Structure used to hold information about the callbacks to be called for a
+ * queue on RX and TX.
+ */
+struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback {
+	struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback *next;
+	union{
+		rte_rx_callback_fn rx;
+		rte_tx_callback_fn tx;
+	} fn;
+	void *param;
+};
+
+/**
+ * @internal
+ * The generic data structure associated with each ethernet device.
+ *
+ * Pointers to burst-oriented packet receive and transmit functions are
+ * located at the beginning of the structure, along with the pointer to
+ * where all the data elements for the particular device are stored in shared
+ * memory. This split allows the function pointer and driver data to be per-
+ * process, while the actual configuration data for the device is shared.
+ */
+struct rte_eth_dev {
+	eth_rx_burst_t rx_pkt_burst; /**< Pointer to PMD receive function. */
+	eth_tx_burst_t tx_pkt_burst; /**< Pointer to PMD transmit function. */
+	eth_tx_prep_t tx_pkt_prepare;
+	/**< Pointer to PMD transmit prepare function. */
+	eth_rx_queue_count_t rx_queue_count;
+	/**< Get the number of used RX descriptors. */
+	eth_rx_descriptor_status_t rx_descriptor_status;
+	/**< Check the status of a Rx descriptor. */
+	eth_tx_descriptor_status_t tx_descriptor_status;
+	/**< Check the status of a Tx descriptor. */
+
+	/**
+	 * Next two fields are per-device data but *data is shared between
+	 * primary and secondary processes and *process_private is per-process
+	 * private. The second one is managed by PMDs if necessary.
+	 */
+	struct rte_eth_dev_data *data;  /**< Pointer to device data. */
+	void *process_private; /**< Pointer to per-process device data. */
+	const struct eth_dev_ops *dev_ops; /**< Functions exported by PMD */
+	struct rte_device *device; /**< Backing device */
+	struct rte_intr_handle *intr_handle; /**< Device interrupt handle */
+	/** User application callbacks for NIC interrupts */
+	struct rte_eth_dev_cb_list link_intr_cbs;
+	/**
+	 * User-supplied functions called from rx_burst to post-process
+	 * received packets before passing them to the user
+	 */
+	struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback *post_rx_burst_cbs[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
+	/**
+	 * User-supplied functions called from tx_burst to pre-process
+	 * received packets before passing them to the driver for transmission.
+	 */
+	struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback *pre_tx_burst_cbs[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
+	enum rte_eth_dev_state state; /**< Flag indicating the port state */
+	void *security_ctx; /**< Context for security ops */
+
+	uint64_t reserved_64s[4]; /**< Reserved for future fields */
+	void *reserved_ptrs[4];   /**< Reserved for future fields */
+} __rte_cache_aligned;
+
+struct rte_eth_dev_sriov;
+struct rte_eth_dev_owner;
+
+/**
+ * @internal
+ * The data part, with no function pointers, associated with each ethernet
+ * device. This structure is safe to place in shared memory to be common
+ * among different processes in a multi-process configuration.
+ */
+struct rte_eth_dev_data {
+	char name[RTE_ETH_NAME_MAX_LEN]; /**< Unique identifier name */
+
+	void **rx_queues; /**< Array of pointers to RX queues. */
+	void **tx_queues; /**< Array of pointers to TX queues. */
+	uint16_t nb_rx_queues; /**< Number of RX queues. */
+	uint16_t nb_tx_queues; /**< Number of TX queues. */
+
+	struct rte_eth_dev_sriov sriov;    /**< SRIOV data */
+
+	void *dev_private;
+			/**< PMD-specific private data.
+			 *   @see rte_eth_dev_release_port()
+			 */
+
+	struct rte_eth_link dev_link;   /**< Link-level information & status. */
+	struct rte_eth_conf dev_conf;   /**< Configuration applied to device. */
+	uint16_t mtu;                   /**< Maximum Transmission Unit. */
+	uint32_t min_rx_buf_size;
+			/**< Common RX buffer size handled by all queues. */
+
+	uint64_t rx_mbuf_alloc_failed; /**< RX ring mbuf allocation failures. */
+	struct rte_ether_addr *mac_addrs;
+			/**< Device Ethernet link address.
+			 *   @see rte_eth_dev_release_port()
+			 */
+	uint64_t mac_pool_sel[ETH_NUM_RECEIVE_MAC_ADDR];
+			/**< Bitmap associating MAC addresses to pools. */
+	struct rte_ether_addr *hash_mac_addrs;
+			/**< Device Ethernet MAC addresses of hash filtering.
+			 *   @see rte_eth_dev_release_port()
+			 */
+	uint16_t port_id;           /**< Device [external] port identifier. */
+
+	__extension__
+	uint8_t promiscuous   : 1,
+		/**< RX promiscuous mode ON(1) / OFF(0). */
+		scattered_rx : 1,
+		/**< RX of scattered packets is ON(1) / OFF(0) */
+		all_multicast : 1,
+		/**< RX all multicast mode ON(1) / OFF(0). */
+		dev_started : 1,
+		/**< Device state: STARTED(1) / STOPPED(0). */
+		lro         : 1,
+		/**< RX LRO is ON(1) / OFF(0) */
+		dev_configured : 1;
+		/**< Indicates whether the device is configured.
+		 *   CONFIGURED(1) / NOT CONFIGURED(0).
+		 */
+	uint8_t rx_queue_state[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
+		/**< Queues state: HAIRPIN(2) / STARTED(1) / STOPPED(0). */
+	uint8_t tx_queue_state[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
+		/**< Queues state: HAIRPIN(2) / STARTED(1) / STOPPED(0). */
+	uint32_t dev_flags;             /**< Capabilities. */
+	int numa_node;                  /**< NUMA node connection. */
+	struct rte_vlan_filter_conf vlan_filter_conf;
+			/**< VLAN filter configuration. */
+	struct rte_eth_dev_owner owner; /**< The port owner. */
+	uint16_t representor_id;
+			/**< Switch-specific identifier.
+			 *   Valid if RTE_ETH_DEV_REPRESENTOR in dev_flags.
+			 */
+
+	pthread_mutex_t flow_ops_mutex; /**< rte_flow ops mutex. */
+	uint64_t reserved_64s[4]; /**< Reserved for future fields */
+	void *reserved_ptrs[4];   /**< Reserved for future fields */
+} __rte_cache_aligned;
+
+/**
+ * @internal
+ * The pool of *rte_eth_dev* structures. The size of the pool
+ * is configured at compile-time in the <rte_ethdev.c> file.
+ */
+extern struct rte_eth_dev rte_eth_devices[];
+
 /**< @internal Declaration of the hairpin peer queue information structure. */
 struct rte_hairpin_peer_info;
 
diff --git a/lib/ethdev/rte_ethdev_core.h b/lib/ethdev/rte_ethdev_core.h
index 140350314d..691985b15a 100644
--- a/lib/ethdev/rte_ethdev_core.h
+++ b/lib/ethdev/rte_ethdev_core.h
@@ -95,147 +95,4 @@ struct rte_eth_fp_ops {
 
 extern struct rte_eth_fp_ops rte_eth_fp_ops[RTE_MAX_ETHPORTS];
 
-
-/**
- * @internal
- * Structure used to hold information about the callbacks to be called for a
- * queue on RX and TX.
- */
-struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback {
-	struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback *next;
-	union{
-		rte_rx_callback_fn rx;
-		rte_tx_callback_fn tx;
-	} fn;
-	void *param;
-};
-
-/**
- * @internal
- * The generic data structure associated with each ethernet device.
- *
- * Pointers to burst-oriented packet receive and transmit functions are
- * located at the beginning of the structure, along with the pointer to
- * where all the data elements for the particular device are stored in shared
- * memory. This split allows the function pointer and driver data to be per-
- * process, while the actual configuration data for the device is shared.
- */
-struct rte_eth_dev {
-	eth_rx_burst_t rx_pkt_burst; /**< Pointer to PMD receive function. */
-	eth_tx_burst_t tx_pkt_burst; /**< Pointer to PMD transmit function. */
-	eth_tx_prep_t tx_pkt_prepare; /**< Pointer to PMD transmit prepare function. */
-
-	eth_rx_queue_count_t       rx_queue_count; /**< Get the number of used RX descriptors. */
-	eth_rx_descriptor_status_t rx_descriptor_status; /**< Check the status of a Rx descriptor. */
-	eth_tx_descriptor_status_t tx_descriptor_status; /**< Check the status of a Tx descriptor. */
-
-	/**
-	 * Next two fields are per-device data but *data is shared between
-	 * primary and secondary processes and *process_private is per-process
-	 * private. The second one is managed by PMDs if necessary.
-	 */
-	struct rte_eth_dev_data *data;  /**< Pointer to device data. */
-	void *process_private; /**< Pointer to per-process device data. */
-	const struct eth_dev_ops *dev_ops; /**< Functions exported by PMD */
-	struct rte_device *device; /**< Backing device */
-	struct rte_intr_handle *intr_handle; /**< Device interrupt handle */
-	/** User application callbacks for NIC interrupts */
-	struct rte_eth_dev_cb_list link_intr_cbs;
-	/**
-	 * User-supplied functions called from rx_burst to post-process
-	 * received packets before passing them to the user
-	 */
-	struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback *post_rx_burst_cbs[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
-	/**
-	 * User-supplied functions called from tx_burst to pre-process
-	 * received packets before passing them to the driver for transmission.
-	 */
-	struct rte_eth_rxtx_callback *pre_tx_burst_cbs[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
-	enum rte_eth_dev_state state; /**< Flag indicating the port state */
-	void *security_ctx; /**< Context for security ops */
-
-	uint64_t reserved_64s[4]; /**< Reserved for future fields */
-	void *reserved_ptrs[4];   /**< Reserved for future fields */
-} __rte_cache_aligned;
-
-struct rte_eth_dev_sriov;
-struct rte_eth_dev_owner;
-
-/**
- * @internal
- * The data part, with no function pointers, associated with each ethernet device.
- *
- * This structure is safe to place in shared memory to be common among different
- * processes in a multi-process configuration.
- */
-struct rte_eth_dev_data {
-	char name[RTE_ETH_NAME_MAX_LEN]; /**< Unique identifier name */
-
-	void **rx_queues; /**< Array of pointers to RX queues. */
-	void **tx_queues; /**< Array of pointers to TX queues. */
-	uint16_t nb_rx_queues; /**< Number of RX queues. */
-	uint16_t nb_tx_queues; /**< Number of TX queues. */
-
-	struct rte_eth_dev_sriov sriov;    /**< SRIOV data */
-
-	void *dev_private;
-			/**< PMD-specific private data.
-			 *   @see rte_eth_dev_release_port()
-			 */
-
-	struct rte_eth_link dev_link;   /**< Link-level information & status. */
-	struct rte_eth_conf dev_conf;   /**< Configuration applied to device. */
-	uint16_t mtu;                   /**< Maximum Transmission Unit. */
-	uint32_t min_rx_buf_size;
-			/**< Common RX buffer size handled by all queues. */
-
-	uint64_t rx_mbuf_alloc_failed; /**< RX ring mbuf allocation failures. */
-	struct rte_ether_addr *mac_addrs;
-			/**< Device Ethernet link address.
-			 *   @see rte_eth_dev_release_port()
-			 */
-	uint64_t mac_pool_sel[ETH_NUM_RECEIVE_MAC_ADDR];
-			/**< Bitmap associating MAC addresses to pools. */
-	struct rte_ether_addr *hash_mac_addrs;
-			/**< Device Ethernet MAC addresses of hash filtering.
-			 *   @see rte_eth_dev_release_port()
-			 */
-	uint16_t port_id;           /**< Device [external] port identifier. */
-
-	__extension__
-	uint8_t promiscuous   : 1, /**< RX promiscuous mode ON(1) / OFF(0). */
-		scattered_rx : 1,  /**< RX of scattered packets is ON(1) / OFF(0) */
-		all_multicast : 1, /**< RX all multicast mode ON(1) / OFF(0). */
-		dev_started : 1,   /**< Device state: STARTED(1) / STOPPED(0). */
-		lro         : 1,   /**< RX LRO is ON(1) / OFF(0) */
-		dev_configured : 1;
-		/**< Indicates whether the device is configured.
-		 *   CONFIGURED(1) / NOT CONFIGURED(0).
-		 */
-	uint8_t rx_queue_state[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
-		/**< Queues state: HAIRPIN(2) / STARTED(1) / STOPPED(0). */
-	uint8_t tx_queue_state[RTE_MAX_QUEUES_PER_PORT];
-		/**< Queues state: HAIRPIN(2) / STARTED(1) / STOPPED(0). */
-	uint32_t dev_flags;             /**< Capabilities. */
-	int numa_node;                  /**< NUMA node connection. */
-	struct rte_vlan_filter_conf vlan_filter_conf;
-			/**< VLAN filter configuration. */
-	struct rte_eth_dev_owner owner; /**< The port owner. */
-	uint16_t representor_id;
-			/**< Switch-specific identifier.
-			 *   Valid if RTE_ETH_DEV_REPRESENTOR in dev_flags.
-			 */
-
-	pthread_mutex_t flow_ops_mutex; /**< rte_flow ops mutex. */
-	uint64_t reserved_64s[4]; /**< Reserved for future fields */
-	void *reserved_ptrs[4];   /**< Reserved for future fields */
-} __rte_cache_aligned;
-
-/**
- * @internal
- * The pool of *rte_eth_dev* structures. The size of the pool
- * is configured at compile-time in the <rte_ethdev.c> file.
- */
-extern struct rte_eth_dev rte_eth_devices[];
-
 #endif /* _RTE_ETHDEV_CORE_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_rx_adapter.c b/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_rx_adapter.c
index 13dfb28401..89c4ca5d40 100644
--- a/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_rx_adapter.c
+++ b/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_rx_adapter.c
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #include <rte_common.h>
 #include <rte_dev.h>
 #include <rte_errno.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 #include <rte_log.h>
 #include <rte_malloc.h>
 #include <rte_service_component.h>
diff --git a/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_tx_adapter.c b/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_tx_adapter.c
index 18c0359db7..1c06c8707c 100644
--- a/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_tx_adapter.c
+++ b/lib/eventdev/rte_event_eth_tx_adapter.c
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  */
 #include <rte_spinlock.h>
 #include <rte_service_component.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 
 #include "eventdev_pmd.h"
 #include "rte_eventdev_trace.h"
diff --git a/lib/eventdev/rte_eventdev.c b/lib/eventdev/rte_eventdev.c
index e347d6dfd5..ebef5f0906 100644
--- a/lib/eventdev/rte_eventdev.c
+++ b/lib/eventdev/rte_eventdev.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include <rte_common.h>
 #include <rte_malloc.h>
 #include <rte_errno.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <ethdev_driver.h>
 #include <rte_cryptodev.h>
 #include <cryptodev_pmd.h>
 #include <rte_telemetry.h>
