diff --git a/.github/scripts/setup_environment.sh b/.github/scripts/setup_environment.sh
index a784962b9..e706f945a 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/setup_environment.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/setup_environment.sh
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ if [[ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" == "${0}" ]]; then
 
 	if [ "${SETUP_BUILD_AND_INSTALL_DPDK}" == "1" ]; then
 		echo "$STEP DPDK build and install"
-		bash "${root_folder}/script/build_dpdk.sh"
+		bash "${root_folder}/script/build_dpdk.sh" -f
 		STEP=$((STEP + 1))
 	fi
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fb4d21ae9..ee0a9f2e0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -85,7 +85,8 @@ mtl_system_status_*
 *.pcm
 *.wav
 script/ice-*
-script/dpdk
+script/dpdk-*
+script/*.zip*
 script/xdp-tools
 
 #Generated documentation
diff --git a/lib/meson.build b/lib/meson.build
index 3e21dc18f..a3d7aed09 100644
--- a/lib/meson.build
+++ b/lib/meson.build
@@ -7,12 +7,18 @@ toolchain = cc.get_id()
 # allow experimental api
 add_global_arguments('-DALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API', language : 'c')
 
+# check dpdk version
+versions_file = files('../versions.env')
+versions_content = run_command('cat', versions_file, check: true).stdout()
+dpdk_version_cmd = run_command('sh', '-c', 'grep "^DPDK_VER" ../versions.env | cut -d= -f2', check: true)
+dpdk_version = dpdk_version_cmd.stdout().strip()
+
 # add dependencies
 libm_dep = cc.find_library('m', required : true)
 libpthread_dep = cc.find_library('pthread', required : true)
 libdl_dep = cc.find_library('dl', required : true)
 if not is_windows
-  dpdk_dep = dependency('libdpdk', version: '>=25.03', required: true)
+  dpdk_dep = dependency('libdpdk', version: '>=' + dpdk_version, required: true)
   libnuma_dep = cc.find_library('numa', required : true)
   ws2_32_dep = [] # add this when the code uses hton/ntoh
 endif
diff --git a/lib/src/mt_main.c b/lib/src/mt_main.c
index 637f6dd12..4769fa175 100644
--- a/lib/src/mt_main.c
+++ b/lib/src/mt_main.c
@@ -414,6 +414,13 @@ mtl_handle mtl_init(struct mtl_init_params* p) {
     err("%s, mt_dev_eal_init fail %d\n", __func__, ret);
     return NULL;
   }
+
+  const char* rte_ver = rte_version();
+  if (!strstr(rte_ver, "mtl")) {
+    err("%s, unpatched dpdk please use supported dpdk version: %s\n", __func__, rte_ver);
+    goto err_exit;
+  }
+
   notice("%s, MTL version: %s, dpdk version: %s\n", __func__, mtl_version(),
          rte_version());
 #ifdef MTL_HAS_USDT
diff --git a/patches/dpdk/25.07/0006-config-add-mtl-version-to-version-string.patch b/patches/dpdk/25.07/0006-config-add-mtl-version-to-version-string.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0402bf18c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patches/dpdk/25.07/0006-config-add-mtl-version-to-version-string.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+From bfd22ef915c550775275e52f851a1e98e99978b7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: "Wesierski, Dawid" <dawid.wesierski@intel.com>
+Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2025 10:27:50 -0500
+Subject: [PATCH 6/6] config: add mtl version to version string
+
+add verision string to tag the dpdk patched version
+and allow mtl to recognize if driver is patched.
+---
+ config/meson.build | 4 ++--
+ 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/config/meson.build b/config/meson.build
+index f31fef216c..4781122ce4 100644
+--- a/config/meson.build
++++ b/config/meson.build
+@@ -78,10 +78,10 @@ if pver.get(2).contains('-rc')
+     dpdk_conf.set('RTE_VER_RELEASE', rc_ver.get(1).to_int())
+ else
+     dpdk_conf.set('RTE_VER_MINOR', pver.get(2).to_int())
+-    dpdk_conf.set_quoted('RTE_VER_SUFFIX', '')
++    dpdk_conf.set_quoted('RTE_VER_SUFFIX', '_mtl_')
+ # for actual, non-rc releases, set the release value to 99 to ensure releases
+ # have higher version numbers than their respective release candidates
+-    dpdk_conf.set('RTE_VER_RELEASE', 99)
++    dpdk_conf.set('RTE_VER_RELEASE', 0)
+ endif
+ 
+ pmd_subdir_opt = get_option('drivers_install_subdir')
+-- 
+2.47.3
+
diff --git a/script/build_dpdk.sh b/script/build_dpdk.sh
index 14323c400..eb967194f 100755
--- a/script/build_dpdk.sh
+++ b/script/build_dpdk.sh
@@ -12,34 +12,73 @@ script_folder=${script_path/$script_name/}
 . "${script_folder}/common.sh"
 cd "${script_folder}" || exit 1
 
-set -x
+show_help() {
+	cat <<EOF
+Usage: $script_name [OPTIONS] [DPDK_VERSION]
 
-if [ -n "$1" ]; then
-	DPDK_VER=$1
-fi
-dpdk_folder="dpdk_${DPDK_VER}"
+Build and install DPDK with MTL patches.
+
+OPTIONS:
+	-f			Force rebuild (removes existing dpdk folder if present)
+	-h			Show this help message
+	-v VERSION	Specify DPDK version to build
+
+	EXAMPLES:
+		$script_name					# Build default DPDK version
+		$script_name -v					# Build specific DPDK version
+		$script_name -f -v 23.11		# Force rebuild of DPDK 23.11
+EOF
+}
+
+FORCE=0
+while getopts "fhv:" opt; do
+	case $opt in
+	f)
+		FORCE=1
+		;;
+	v)
+		DPDK_VER="$OPTARG"
+		;;
+	h)
+		show_help
+		exit 0
+		;;
+	*)
+		show_help
+		exit 1
+		;;
+	esac
+done
+shift $((OPTIND - 1))
+
+dpdk_folder="dpdk-${DPDK_VER}"
 
 (return 0 2>/dev/null) && sourced=1 || sourced=0
 
 if [ "$sourced" -eq 0 ]; then
 	echo "DPDK version: $DPDK_VER"
 
+	if [ $FORCE -eq 1 ] && [ -d "$dpdk_folder" ]; then
+		echo "Force rebuild enabled. Removing existing '$dpdk_folder' directory."
+		rm -rf "$dpdk_folder"
+	fi
+
 	if [ ! -d "$dpdk_folder" ]; then
-		# check out dpdk code
 		echo "Clone DPDK source code"
-		git clone https://github.com/DPDK/dpdk.git "$dpdk_folder"
-	fi
+		wget https://github.com/DPDK/dpdk/archive/refs/tags/v"${DPDK_VER}".zip
+		unzip v"${DPDK_VER}".zip
 
-	cd "$dpdk_folder" || exit 1
-	git checkout v"$DPDK_VER"
-	if git switch -c v"$DPDK_VER"_kahawai_build 2>/dev/null; then
-		git am ../../patches/dpdk/"$DPDK_VER"/*.patch
+		cd "$dpdk_folder" || exit 1
+		for patch_file in ../../patches/dpdk/"$DPDK_VER"/*.patch; do
+			patch -p1 -i "$patch_file"
+		done
 	else
-		echo "Branch v${DPDK_VER}_kahawai_build already exists."
-		echo "Skipping patch application assuming it has been applied before."
+		echo "DPDK source code already exists."
+		echo "To rebuild, please remove the '$dpdk_folder' directory and run this script again."
+		exit 0
 	fi
 
-	# build and install dpdk now
+	echo "Build and install DPDK now"
 	meson build
 	ninja -C build
 	cd build