diff --git a/Documentation/topics/dpdk/vhost-user.rst b/Documentation/topics/dpdk/vhost-user.rst
index 3c02738cfcc..20e8eb245b9 100644
--- a/Documentation/topics/dpdk/vhost-user.rst
+++ b/Documentation/topics/dpdk/vhost-user.rst
@@ -375,6 +375,21 @@ Tx retries max can be set for vhost-user-client ports::
 
   Configurable vhost tx retries are not supported with vhost-user ports.
 
+vhost-user-client max queue pairs config
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+For vhost-user-client interfaces using the VDUSE backend, the maximum number of
+queue pairs the Virtio device will support can be set at port creation time. If
+not set, the default value is 1 queue pair. This value is ignored for
+Vhost-user backends.
+
+Maximum number of queue pairs can be set for vhost-user-client-ports::
+
+    $ ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vduse0 \
+        -- set Interface vduse0 type=dpdkvhostuserclient \
+            options:vhost-server-path=/dev/vduse/vduse0 \
+            options:vhost-max-queue-pairs=4
+
 .. _dpdk-testpmd:
 
 DPDK in the Guest
diff --git a/lib/netdev-dpdk.c b/lib/netdev-dpdk.c
index 449c660a77d..b88247a2d0f 100644
--- a/lib/netdev-dpdk.c
+++ b/lib/netdev-dpdk.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <signal.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -153,6 +154,11 @@ typedef uint16_t dpdk_port_t;
 /* Legacy default value for vhost tx retries. */
 #define VHOST_ENQ_RETRY_DEF 8
 
+/* VDUSE-only, ignore for vhost-user. */
+#define VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_MIN 1
+#define VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_DEF VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_MIN
+#define VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_MAX 128
+
 #define IF_NAME_SZ (PATH_MAX > IFNAMSIZ ? PATH_MAX : IFNAMSIZ)
 
 /* List of required flags advertised by the hardware that will be used
@@ -554,6 +560,9 @@ struct netdev_dpdk {
         /* Socket ID detected when vHost device is brought up */
         int requested_socket_id;
 
+        /* Ignored by DPDK for vhost-user backends, only for VDUSE. */
+        uint8_t vhost_max_queue_pairs;
+
         /* Denotes whether vHost port is client/server mode */
         uint64_t vhost_driver_flags;
 
@@ -1606,6 +1615,8 @@ vhost_common_construct(struct netdev *netdev)
 
     atomic_init(&dev->vhost_tx_retries_max, VHOST_ENQ_RETRY_DEF);
 
+    dev->vhost_max_queue_pairs = VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_DEF;
+
     return common_construct(netdev, DPDK_ETH_PORT_ID_INVALID,
                             DPDK_DEV_VHOST, socket_id);
 }
@@ -2488,6 +2499,7 @@ netdev_dpdk_vhost_client_set_config(struct netdev *netdev,
     struct netdev_dpdk *dev = netdev_dpdk_cast(netdev);
     const char *path;
     int max_tx_retries, cur_max_tx_retries;
+    uint32_t max_queue_pairs;
 
     ovs_mutex_lock(&dev->mutex);
     if (!(dev->vhost_driver_flags & RTE_VHOST_USER_CLIENT)) {
@@ -2495,6 +2507,15 @@ netdev_dpdk_vhost_client_set_config(struct netdev *netdev,
         if (!nullable_string_is_equal(path, dev->vhost_id)) {
             free(dev->vhost_id);
             dev->vhost_id = nullable_xstrdup(path);
+
+            max_queue_pairs = smap_get_int(args, "vhost-max-queue-pairs",
+                                           VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_DEF);
+            if (max_queue_pairs < VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_MIN
+                || max_queue_pairs > VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_MAX) {
+                max_queue_pairs = VHOST_MAX_QUEUE_PAIRS_DEF;
+            }
+            dev->vhost_max_queue_pairs = max_queue_pairs;
+
             netdev_request_reconfigure(netdev);
         }
     }
@@ -6397,6 +6418,18 @@ netdev_dpdk_vhost_client_reconfigure(struct netdev *netdev)
             goto unlock;
         }
 
+        /* Setting max queue pairs is only useful and effective with VDUSE. */
+        if (strncmp(dev->vhost_id, "/dev/vduse/", 11) == 0) {
+            uint32_t max_qp = dev->vhost_max_queue_pairs;
+
+            err = rte_vhost_driver_set_max_queue_num(dev->vhost_id, max_qp);
+            if (err) {
+                VLOG_ERR("rte_vhost_driver_set_max_queue_num failed for "
+                         "vhost-user client port: %s\n", dev->up.name);
+                goto unlock;
+            }
+        }
+
         err = rte_vhost_driver_start(dev->vhost_id);
         if (err) {
             VLOG_ERR("rte_vhost_driver_start failed for vhost user "
diff --git a/vswitchd/vswitch.xml b/vswitchd/vswitch.xml
index 275bcbec0b5..fc844576c20 100644
--- a/vswitchd/vswitch.xml
+++ b/vswitchd/vswitch.xml
@@ -3540,6 +3540,19 @@ ovs-vsctl add-port br0 p0 -- set Interface p0 type=patch options:peer=p1 \
         </p>
       </column>
 
+      <column name="options" key="vhost-max-queue-pairs"
+              type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger" : 1, "maxInteger": 128}'>
+        <p>
+          The value specifies the maximum number of queue pairs supported by
+          a vHost device. This is ignored for vhost-user backends, only VDUSE
+          is supported.
+          Only supported by dpdkvhostuserclient interfaces.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          Default value is 1.
+        </p>
+      </column>
+
       <column name="options" key="tx-retries-max"
               type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 32}'>
         <p>