diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 2a4856c1a..c47a6be50 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Post-v2.16.0
        by default.  'other_config:dpdk-socket-limit' can be set equal to
        the 'other_config:dpdk-socket-mem' to preserve the legacy memory
        limiting behavior.
+     * EAL argument --in-memory is applied by default if supported.
      * Add hardware offload support for matching IPv4/IPv6 frag types
        (experimental).
      * Add support for DPDK 21.11.
diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 8ab690f47..23cd6df44 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -472,6 +472,12 @@ AC_DEFUN([OVS_CHECK_DPDK], [
       ], [[#include <rte_config.h>]])
     ], [], [[#include <rte_config.h>]])
 
+    AC_CHECK_DECL([MAP_HUGE_SHIFT], [
+      AC_DEFINE([DPDK_IN_MEMORY_SUPPORTED], [1], [If MAP_HUGE_SHIFT is
+                 defined, anonymous memory mapping is supported by the
+                 kernel, and --in-memory can be used.])
+    ], [], [[#include <sys/mman.h>]])
+
     # DPDK uses dlopen to load plugins.
     OVS_FIND_DEPENDENCY([dlopen], [dl], [libdl])
 
diff --git a/lib/dpdk.c b/lib/dpdk.c
index b2ef31cd2..6cdd69bd2 100644
--- a/lib/dpdk.c
+++ b/lib/dpdk.c
@@ -405,6 +405,13 @@ dpdk_init__(const struct smap *ovs_other_config)
     svec_add(&args, ovs_get_program_name());
     construct_dpdk_args(ovs_other_config, &args);
 
+#ifdef DPDK_IN_MEMORY_SUPPORTED
+    if (!args_contains(&args, "--in-memory") &&
+            !args_contains(&args, "--legacy-mem")) {
+        svec_add(&args, "--in-memory");
+    }
+#endif
+
     if (args_contains(&args, "-c") || args_contains(&args, "-l")) {
         auto_determine = false;
     }