diff --git a/rhel/README.RHEL.rst b/rhel/README.RHEL.rst
index afccf170325..8d57cb25bc4 100644
--- a/rhel/README.RHEL.rst
+++ b/rhel/README.RHEL.rst
@@ -73,6 +73,15 @@ OVS_PATCH_PEER
   For "OVSPatchPort" devices, this field specifies the patch's peer on the
   other bridge.
 
+OVS_PORT_MODE
+  For "OVSDPDKVhostUserPort" devices, this field can be set to "client" which
+  indicates that the port will be used in client mode.
+
+OVS_PORT_PATH
+  For "OVSDPDKVhostUserPort" devices, this field specifies the path to the
+  vhost-user server socket.  It will only be used if OVS_PORT_MODE is set to
+  "client".
+
 Note
 ----
 
diff --git a/rhel/etc_sysconfig_network-scripts_ifup-ovs b/rhel/etc_sysconfig_network-scripts_ifup-ovs
index e49e6fe715c..b95220a7fe7 100755
--- a/rhel/etc_sysconfig_network-scripts_ifup-ovs
+++ b/rhel/etc_sysconfig_network-scripts_ifup-ovs
@@ -181,10 +181,18 @@ case "$TYPE" in
 		;;
 	OVSDPDKVhostUserPort)
 		ifup_ovs_bridge
+		PORT_TYPE="dpdkvhostuser"
+		PORT_PATH=""
+		if [ "$OVS_PORT_MODE" == "client" ]; then
+			PORT_TYPE="dpdkvhostuserclient"
+			PORT_PATH="options:vhost-server-path=${OVS_PORT_PATH}"
+		fi
 		ovs-vsctl -t ${TIMEOUT} \
 			-- --if-exists del-port "$OVS_BRIDGE" "$DEVICE" \
 			-- add-port "$OVS_BRIDGE" "$DEVICE" $OVS_OPTIONS \
-			-- set Interface "$DEVICE" type=dpdkvhostuser ${OVS_EXTRA+-- $OVS_EXTRA}
+			-- set Interface "$DEVICE" type=$PORT_TYPE \
+			$PORT_PATH \
+			${OVS_EXTRA+-- $OVS_EXTRA}
 		;;
 	OVSDPDKBond)
 		ifup_ovs_bridge