diff --git a/lib/librte_mempool/rte_mempool.c b/lib/librte_mempool/rte_mempool.c
index d50dba4..4b9ab22 100644
--- a/lib/librte_mempool/rte_mempool.c
+++ b/lib/librte_mempool/rte_mempool.c
@@ -127,6 +127,26 @@ static unsigned optimize_object_size(unsigned obj_size)
 	return new_obj_size * RTE_MEMPOOL_ALIGN;
 }
 
+static size_t
+get_min_page_size(void) {
+	const struct rte_mem_config *mcfg =
+			rte_eal_get_configuration()->mem_config;
+	int i;
+	size_t min_pagesz = SIZE_MAX;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < RTE_MAX_MEMSEG_LISTS; i++) {
+		const struct rte_memseg_list *msl = &mcfg->memsegs[i];
+
+		if (msl->base_va == NULL)
+			continue;
+
+		if (msl->hugepage_sz < min_pagesz)
+			min_pagesz = msl->hugepage_sz;
+	}
+
+	return min_pagesz == SIZE_MAX ? (size_t) getpagesize() : min_pagesz;
+}
+
 static void
 mempool_add_elem(struct rte_mempool *mp, void *obj, rte_iova_t iova)
 {
@@ -568,6 +588,7 @@ rte_mempool_populate_default(struct rte_mempool *mp)
 	unsigned mz_id, n;
 	unsigned int mp_flags;
 	int ret;
+	bool force_contig, no_contig;
 
 	/* mempool must not be populated */
 	if (mp->nb_mem_chunks != 0)
@@ -582,10 +603,46 @@ rte_mempool_populate_default(struct rte_mempool *mp)
 	/* update mempool capabilities */
 	mp->flags |= mp_flags;
 
-	if (rte_eal_has_hugepages()) {
-		pg_shift = 0; /* not needed, zone is physically contiguous */
+	no_contig = mp->flags & MEMPOOL_F_NO_PHYS_CONTIG;
+	force_contig = mp->flags & MEMPOOL_F_CAPA_PHYS_CONTIG;
+
+	/*
+	 * there are several considerations for page size and page shift here.
+	 *
+	 * if we don't need our mempools to have physically contiguous objects,
+	 * then just set page shift and page size to 0, because the user has
+	 * indicated that there's no need to care about anything.
+	 *
+	 * if we do need contiguous objects, there is also an option to reserve
+	 * the entire mempool memory as one contiguous block of memory, in
+	 * which case the page shift and alignment wouldn't matter as well.
+	 *
+	 * if we require contiguous objects, but not necessarily the entire
+	 * mempool reserved space to be contiguous, then there are two options.
+	 *
+	 * if our IO addresses are virtual, not actual physical (IOVA as VA
+	 * case), then no page shift needed - our memory allocation will give us
+	 * contiguous physical memory as far as the hardware is concerned, so
+	 * act as if we're getting contiguous memory.
+	 *
+	 * if our IO addresses are physical, we may get memory from bigger
+	 * pages, or we might get memory from smaller pages, and how much of it
+	 * we require depends on whether we want bigger or smaller pages.
+	 * However, requesting each and every memory size is too much work, so
+	 * what we'll do instead is walk through the page sizes available, pick
+	 * the smallest one and set up page shift to match that one. We will be
+	 * wasting some space this way, but it's much nicer than looping around
+	 * trying to reserve each and every page size.
+	 */
+
+	if (no_contig || force_contig || rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA) {
 		pg_sz = 0;
+		pg_shift = 0;
 		align = RTE_CACHE_LINE_SIZE;
+	} else if (rte_eal_has_hugepages()) {
+		pg_sz = get_min_page_size();
+		pg_shift = rte_bsf32(pg_sz);
+		align = pg_sz;
 	} else {
 		pg_sz = getpagesize();
 		pg_shift = rte_bsf32(pg_sz);
@@ -604,23 +661,32 @@ rte_mempool_populate_default(struct rte_mempool *mp)
 			goto fail;
 		}
 
-		mz = rte_memzone_reserve_aligned(mz_name, size,
-			mp->socket_id, mz_flags, align);
-		/* not enough memory, retry with the biggest zone we have */
-		if (mz == NULL)
-			mz = rte_memzone_reserve_aligned(mz_name, 0,
+		if (force_contig) {
+			/*
+			 * if contiguous memory for entire mempool memory was
+			 * requested, don't try reserving again if we fail.
+			 */
+			mz = rte_memzone_reserve_aligned_contig(mz_name, size,
+				mp->socket_id, mz_flags, align);
+		} else {
+			mz = rte_memzone_reserve_aligned(mz_name, size,
 				mp->socket_id, mz_flags, align);
+			/* not enough memory, retry with the biggest zone we have */
+			if (mz == NULL)
+				mz = rte_memzone_reserve_aligned(mz_name, 0,
+					mp->socket_id, mz_flags, align);
+		}
 		if (mz == NULL) {
 			ret = -rte_errno;
 			goto fail;
 		}
 
-		if (mp->flags & MEMPOOL_F_NO_PHYS_CONTIG)
+		if (no_contig)
 			iova = RTE_BAD_IOVA;
 		else
 			iova = mz->iova;
 
-		if (rte_eal_has_hugepages())
+		if (rte_eal_has_hugepages() && force_contig)
 			ret = rte_mempool_populate_iova(mp, mz->addr,
 				iova, mz->len,
 				rte_mempool_memchunk_mz_free,
