diff --git a/app/test-pmd/config.c b/app/test-pmd/config.c
index 39bce480bf..bc154e8bf7 100644
--- a/app/test-pmd/config.c
+++ b/app/test-pmd/config.c
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ device_infos_display(const char *identifier)
 		if (identifier && da.bus != next)
 			continue;
 
-		snprintf(devstr, sizeof(devstr), "bus=%s", next->name);
+		snprintf(devstr, sizeof(devstr), "bus=%s", rte_bus_name(next));
 		RTE_DEV_FOREACH(dev, devstr, &dev_iter) {
 
 			if (!dev->driver)
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ device_infos_display(const char *identifier)
 				continue;
 			printf("\n%s Infos for device %s %s\n",
 			       info_border, dev->name, info_border);
-			printf("Bus name: %s", dev->bus->name);
+			printf("Bus name: %s", rte_bus_name(dev->bus));
 			printf("\nDriver name: %s", dev->driver->name);
 			printf("\nDevargs: %s",
 			       dev->devargs ? dev->devargs->args : "");
@@ -1154,7 +1154,7 @@ port_reg_off_is_invalid(portid_t port_id, uint32_t reg_off)
 	}
 
 	bus = rte_bus_find_by_device(ports[port_id].dev_info.device);
-	if (bus && !strcmp(bus->name, "pci")) {
+	if (bus && !strcmp(rte_bus_name(bus), "pci")) {
 		pci_dev = RTE_DEV_TO_PCI(ports[port_id].dev_info.device);
 	} else {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Not a PCI device\n");
diff --git a/app/test-pmd/testpmd.c b/app/test-pmd/testpmd.c
index addcbcac85..51c2488b45 100644
--- a/app/test-pmd/testpmd.c
+++ b/app/test-pmd/testpmd.c
@@ -3507,9 +3507,9 @@ detach_devargs(char *identifier)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (rte_eal_hotplug_remove(da.bus->name, da.name) != 0) {
+	if (rte_eal_hotplug_remove(rte_bus_name(da.bus), da.name) != 0) {
 		TESTPMD_LOG(ERR, "Failed to detach device %s(%s)\n",
-			    da.name, da.bus->name);
+			    da.name, rte_bus_name(da.bus));
 		rte_devargs_reset(&da);
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/app/test-pmd/testpmd.h b/app/test-pmd/testpmd.h
index 8694c65539..59a8a429c5 100644
--- a/app/test-pmd/testpmd.h
+++ b/app/test-pmd/testpmd.h
@@ -819,7 +819,7 @@ port_pci_reg_read(struct rte_port *port, uint32_t reg_off)
 	}
 
 	bus = rte_bus_find_by_device(port->dev_info.device);
-	if (bus && !strcmp(bus->name, "pci")) {
+	if (bus && !strcmp(rte_bus_name(bus), "pci")) {
 		pci_dev = RTE_DEV_TO_PCI(port->dev_info.device);
 	} else {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Not a PCI device\n");
@@ -847,7 +847,7 @@ port_pci_reg_write(struct rte_port *port, uint32_t reg_off, uint32_t reg_v)
 	}
 
 	bus = rte_bus_find_by_device(port->dev_info.device);
-	if (bus && !strcmp(bus->name, "pci")) {
+	if (bus && !strcmp(rte_bus_name(bus), "pci")) {
 		pci_dev = RTE_DEV_TO_PCI(port->dev_info.device);
 	} else {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Not a PCI device\n");
diff --git a/app/test/test_devargs.c b/app/test/test_devargs.c
index 16621285d2..ac5bc34c18 100644
--- a/app/test/test_devargs.c
+++ b/app/test/test_devargs.c
@@ -98,9 +98,9 @@ test_valid_devargs_cases(const struct devargs_case *list, size_t n)
 			      list[i].bus_kv) != 0)
 			goto fail;
 		if (list[i].bus != NULL &&
-		    strcmp(da.bus->name, list[i].bus) != 0) {
+		    strcmp(rte_bus_name(da.bus), list[i].bus) != 0) {
 			printf("rte_devargs_parse(%s) bus name (%s) not expected (%s)\n",
-			       list[i].devargs, da.bus->name, list[i].bus);
+			       list[i].devargs, rte_bus_name(da.bus), list[i].bus);
 			goto fail;
 		}
 		if ((list[i].class_kv > 0 || list[i].class != NULL) &&
diff --git a/examples/multi_process/hotplug_mp/commands.c b/examples/multi_process/hotplug_mp/commands.c
index da8b5e5924..88f44e00a0 100644
--- a/examples/multi_process/hotplug_mp/commands.c
+++ b/examples/multi_process/hotplug_mp/commands.c
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ static void cmd_dev_attach_parsed(void *parsed_result,
 		return;
 	}
 
-	if (!rte_eal_hotplug_add(da.bus->name, da.name, da.args))
+	if (!rte_eal_hotplug_add(rte_bus_name(da.bus), da.name, da.args))
 		cmdline_printf(cl, "attached device %s\n", da.name);
 	else
 		cmdline_printf(cl, "failed to attached device %s\n",
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ static void cmd_dev_detach_parsed(void *parsed_result,
 	}
 
 	printf("detaching...\n");
-	if (!rte_eal_hotplug_remove(da.bus->name, da.name))
+	if (!rte_eal_hotplug_remove(rte_bus_name(da.bus), da.name))
 		cmdline_printf(cl, "detached device %s\n",
 			da.name);
 	else
diff --git a/lib/eal/common/eal_common_bus.c b/lib/eal/common/eal_common_bus.c
index baa5b532af..cbf382f967 100644
--- a/lib/eal/common/eal_common_bus.c
+++ b/lib/eal/common/eal_common_bus.c
@@ -16,11 +16,17 @@
 static struct rte_bus_list rte_bus_list =
 	TAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(rte_bus_list);
 
+const char *
+rte_bus_name(const struct rte_bus *bus)
+{
+	return bus->name;
+}
+
 void
 rte_bus_register(struct rte_bus *bus)
 {
 	RTE_VERIFY(bus);
-	RTE_VERIFY(bus->name && strlen(bus->name));
+	RTE_VERIFY(rte_bus_name(bus) && strlen(rte_bus_name(bus)));
 	/* A bus should mandatorily have the scan implemented */
 	RTE_VERIFY(bus->scan);
 	RTE_VERIFY(bus->probe);
@@ -29,14 +35,14 @@ rte_bus_register(struct rte_bus *bus)
 	RTE_VERIFY(!bus->plug || bus->unplug);
 
 	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&rte_bus_list, bus, next);
-	RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "Registered [%s] bus.\n", bus->name);
+	RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "Registered [%s] bus.\n", rte_bus_name(bus));
 }
 
 void
 rte_bus_unregister(struct rte_bus *bus)
 {
 	TAILQ_REMOVE(&rte_bus_list, bus, next);
-	RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "Unregistered [%s] bus.\n", bus->name);
+	RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "Unregistered [%s] bus.\n", rte_bus_name(bus));
 }
 
 /* Scan all the buses for registered devices */
@@ -50,7 +56,7 @@ rte_bus_scan(void)
 		ret = bus->scan();
 		if (ret)
 			RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Scan for (%s) bus failed.\n",
-				bus->name);
+				rte_bus_name(bus));
 	}
 
 	return 0;
@@ -64,7 +70,7 @@ rte_bus_probe(void)
 	struct rte_bus *bus, *vbus = NULL;
 
 	TAILQ_FOREACH(bus, &rte_bus_list, next) {
-		if (!strcmp(bus->name, "vdev")) {
+		if (!strcmp(rte_bus_name(bus), "vdev")) {
 			vbus = bus;
 			continue;
 		}
@@ -72,14 +78,14 @@ rte_bus_probe(void)
 		ret = bus->probe();
 		if (ret)
 			RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Bus (%s) probe failed.\n",
-				bus->name);
+				rte_bus_name(bus));
 	}
 
 	if (vbus) {
 		ret = vbus->probe();
 		if (ret)
 			RTE_LOG(ERR, EAL, "Bus (%s) probe failed.\n",
-				vbus->name);
+				rte_bus_name(vbus));
 	}
 
 	return 0;
@@ -92,7 +98,7 @@ bus_dump_one(FILE *f, struct rte_bus *bus)
 	int ret;
 
 	/* For now, dump only the bus name */
-	ret = fprintf(f, " %s\n", bus->name);
+	ret = fprintf(f, " %s\n", rte_bus_name(bus));
 
 	/* Error in case of inability in writing to stream */
 	if (ret < 0)
@@ -163,7 +169,7 @@ cmp_bus_name(const struct rte_bus *bus, const void *_name)
 {
 	const char *name = _name;
 
-	return strcmp(bus->name, name);
+	return strcmp(rte_bus_name(bus), name);
 }
 
 struct rte_bus *
@@ -213,7 +219,7 @@ rte_bus_get_iommu_class(void)
 
 		bus_iova_mode = bus->get_iommu_class();
 		RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, "Bus %s wants IOVA as '%s'\n",
-			bus->name,
+			rte_bus_name(bus),
 			bus_iova_mode == RTE_IOVA_DC ? "DC" :
 			(bus_iova_mode == RTE_IOVA_PA ? "PA" : "VA"));
 		if (bus_iova_mode == RTE_IOVA_PA)
diff --git a/lib/eal/include/rte_bus.h b/lib/eal/include/rte_bus.h
index 17edaa37c9..2775e1ac66 100644
--- a/lib/eal/include/rte_bus.h
+++ b/lib/eal/include/rte_bus.h
@@ -266,6 +266,18 @@ struct rte_bus {
 
 };
 
+/**
+ * @warning
+ * @b EXPERIMENTAL: this API may change without prior notice
+ *
+ * @param bus
+ *   A pointer to a rte_bus structure.
+ * @return
+ *   A pointer to the bus name string.
+ */
+__rte_experimental
+const char *rte_bus_name(const struct rte_bus *bus);
+
 /**
  * Register a Bus handler.
  *
diff --git a/lib/eal/version.map b/lib/eal/version.map
index c2a2cebf69..6f713c987d 100644
--- a/lib/eal/version.map
+++ b/lib/eal/version.map
@@ -424,6 +424,9 @@ EXPERIMENTAL {
 	rte_thread_self;
 	rte_thread_set_affinity_by_id;
 	rte_thread_set_priority;
+
+	# added in 22.11
+	rte_bus_name;
 };
 
 INTERNAL {
