diff --git a/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c b/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c
index 1cfdd75f3b..7520ebda8e 100644
--- a/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c
+++ b/lib/eal/common/eal_common_options.c
@@ -1737,7 +1737,7 @@ eal_parse_common_option(int opt, const char *optarg,
 
 	/* long options */
 	case OPT_HUGE_UNLINK_NUM:
-		conf->hugepage_unlink = 1;
+		conf->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping = true;
 		break;
 
 	case OPT_NO_HUGE_NUM:
@@ -1766,7 +1766,7 @@ eal_parse_common_option(int opt, const char *optarg,
 		conf->in_memory = 1;
 		/* in-memory is a superset of noshconf and huge-unlink */
 		conf->no_shconf = 1;
-		conf->hugepage_unlink = 1;
+		conf->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping = true;
 		break;
 
 	case OPT_PROC_TYPE_NUM:
@@ -2050,7 +2050,8 @@ eal_check_common_options(struct internal_config *internal_cfg)
 			"be specified together with --"OPT_NO_HUGE"\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
-	if (internal_cfg->no_hugetlbfs && internal_cfg->hugepage_unlink &&
+	if (internal_cfg->no_hugetlbfs &&
+			internal_cfg->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping &&
 			!internal_cfg->in_memory) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Option --"OPT_HUGE_UNLINK" cannot "
 			"be specified together with --"OPT_NO_HUGE"\n");
@@ -2061,7 +2062,7 @@ eal_check_common_options(struct internal_config *internal_cfg)
 			" is only supported in non-legacy memory mode\n");
 	}
 	if (internal_cfg->single_file_segments &&
-			internal_cfg->hugepage_unlink &&
+			internal_cfg->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping &&
 			!internal_cfg->in_memory) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Option --"OPT_SINGLE_FILE_SEGMENTS" is "
 			"not compatible with --"OPT_HUGE_UNLINK"\n");
diff --git a/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h b/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
index d6c0470eb8..b5e6942578 100644
--- a/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
+++ b/lib/eal/common/eal_internal_cfg.h
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ struct simd_bitwidth {
 	uint16_t bitwidth; /**< bitwidth value */
 };
 
+/** Hugepage backing files discipline. */
+struct hugepage_file_discipline {
+	/** Unlink files before mapping them to leave no trace in hugetlbfs. */
+	bool unlink_before_mapping;
+};
+
 /**
  * internal configuration
  */
@@ -48,7 +54,7 @@ struct internal_config {
 	volatile unsigned force_nchannel; /**< force number of channels */
 	volatile unsigned force_nrank;    /**< force number of ranks */
 	volatile unsigned no_hugetlbfs;   /**< true to disable hugetlbfs */
-	unsigned hugepage_unlink;         /**< true to unlink backing files */
+	struct hugepage_file_discipline hugepage_file;
 	volatile unsigned no_pci;         /**< true to disable PCI */
 	volatile unsigned no_hpet;        /**< true to disable HPET */
 	volatile unsigned vmware_tsc_map; /**< true to use VMware TSC mapping
diff --git a/lib/eal/linux/eal_memalloc.c b/lib/eal/linux/eal_memalloc.c
index 337f2bc739..abbe605e49 100644
--- a/lib/eal/linux/eal_memalloc.c
+++ b/lib/eal/linux/eal_memalloc.c
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ alloc_seg(struct rte_memseg *ms, void *addr, int socket_id,
 					__func__, strerror(errno));
 				goto resized;
 			}
-			if (internal_conf->hugepage_unlink &&
+			if (internal_conf->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping &&
 					!internal_conf->in_memory) {
 				if (unlink(path)) {
 					RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "%s(): unlink() failed: %s\n",
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ alloc_seg(struct rte_memseg *ms, void *addr, int socket_id,
 			close_hugefile(fd, path, list_idx);
 	} else {
 		/* only remove file if we can take out a write lock */
-		if (internal_conf->hugepage_unlink == 0 &&
+		if (!internal_conf->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping &&
 				internal_conf->in_memory == 0 &&
 				lock(fd, LOCK_EX) == 1)
 			unlink(path);
@@ -756,7 +756,8 @@ free_seg(struct rte_memseg *ms, struct hugepage_info *hi,
 		/* if we're able to take out a write lock, we're the last one
 		 * holding onto this page.
 		 */
-		if (!internal_conf->in_memory && !internal_conf->hugepage_unlink) {
+		if (!internal_conf->in_memory &&
+				internal_conf->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping) {
 			ret = lock(fd, LOCK_EX);
 			if (ret >= 0) {
 				/* no one else is using this page */
diff --git a/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c b/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c
index 03a4f2dd2d..83eec078a4 100644
--- a/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c
@@ -1428,7 +1428,7 @@ eal_legacy_hugepage_init(void)
 	}
 
 	/* free the hugepage backing files */
-	if (internal_conf->hugepage_unlink &&
+	if (internal_conf->hugepage_file.unlink_before_mapping &&
 		unlink_hugepage_files(tmp_hp, internal_conf->num_hugepage_sizes) < 0) {
 		RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Unlinking hugepage files failed!\n");
 		goto fail;
