diff --git a/ip/iplink.c b/ip/iplink.c
index da3f9a77..ae1c70eb 100644
--- a/ip/iplink.c
+++ b/ip/iplink.c
@@ -612,9 +612,12 @@ int iplink_parse(int argc, char **argv, struct iplink_req *req,
 			if (get_integer(&mtu, *argv, 0))
 				invarg("Invalid \"mtu\" value\n", *argv);
 			addattr_l(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_MTU, &mtu, 4);
-		} else if (strcmp(*argv, "xdp") == 0) {
+		} else if (strcmp(*argv, "xdpgeneric") == 0 ||
+			   strcmp(*argv, "xdp") == 0) {
+			bool generic = strcmp(*argv, "xdpgeneric") == 0;
+
 			NEXT_ARG();
-			if (xdp_parse(&argc, &argv, req))
+			if (xdp_parse(&argc, &argv, req, generic))
 				exit(-1);
 		} else if (strcmp(*argv, "netns") == 0) {
 			NEXT_ARG();
diff --git a/ip/iplink_xdp.c b/ip/iplink_xdp.c
index a81ed971..a1380eec 100644
--- a/ip/iplink_xdp.c
+++ b/ip/iplink_xdp.c
@@ -19,41 +19,56 @@
 
 extern int force;
 
+struct xdp_req {
+	struct iplink_req *req;
+	__u32 flags;
+};
+
 static void xdp_ebpf_cb(void *raw, int fd, const char *annotation)
 {
-	__u32 flags = !force ? XDP_FLAGS_UPDATE_IF_NOEXIST : 0;
-	struct iplink_req *req = raw;
-	struct rtattr *xdp;
+	struct xdp_req *xdp = raw;
+	struct iplink_req *req = xdp->req;
+	struct rtattr *xdp_attr;
 
-	xdp = addattr_nest(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_XDP);
+	xdp_attr = addattr_nest(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_XDP);
 	addattr32(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_XDP_FD, fd);
-	addattr32(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_XDP_FLAGS, flags);
-	addattr_nest_end(&req->n, xdp);
+	if (xdp->flags)
+		addattr32(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_XDP_FLAGS, xdp->flags);
+	addattr_nest_end(&req->n, xdp_attr);
 }
 
 static const struct bpf_cfg_ops bpf_cb_ops = {
 	.ebpf_cb = xdp_ebpf_cb,
 };
 
-static int xdp_delete(struct iplink_req *req)
+static int xdp_delete(struct xdp_req *xdp)
 {
-	xdp_ebpf_cb(req, -1, NULL);
+	xdp_ebpf_cb(xdp, -1, NULL);
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int xdp_parse(int *argc, char ***argv, struct iplink_req *req)
+int xdp_parse(int *argc, char ***argv, struct iplink_req *req, bool generic)
 {
 	struct bpf_cfg_in cfg = {
 		.argc = *argc,
 		.argv = *argv,
 	};
+	struct xdp_req xdp = {
+		.req = req,
+	};
+
+	if (!force)
+		xdp.flags |= XDP_FLAGS_UPDATE_IF_NOEXIST;
+	if (generic)
+		xdp.flags |= XDP_FLAGS_SKB_MODE;
 
 	if (*argc == 1) {
 		if (strcmp(**argv, "none") == 0 ||
 		    strcmp(**argv, "off") == 0)
-			return xdp_delete(req);
+			return xdp_delete(&xdp);
 	}
-	if (bpf_parse_common(BPF_PROG_TYPE_XDP, &cfg, &bpf_cb_ops, req))
+
+	if (bpf_parse_common(BPF_PROG_TYPE_XDP, &cfg, &bpf_cb_ops, &xdp))
 		return -1;
 
 	*argc = cfg.argc;
@@ -64,12 +79,17 @@ int xdp_parse(int *argc, char ***argv, struct iplink_req *req)
 void xdp_dump(FILE *fp, struct rtattr *xdp)
 {
 	struct rtattr *tb[IFLA_XDP_MAX + 1];
+	__u32 flags = 0;
 
 	parse_rtattr_nested(tb, IFLA_XDP_MAX, xdp);
+
 	if (!tb[IFLA_XDP_ATTACHED] ||
 	    !rta_getattr_u8(tb[IFLA_XDP_ATTACHED]))
 		return;
 
-	fprintf(fp, "xdp ");
-	/* More to come here in future for 'ip -d link' (digest, etc) ... */
+	if (tb[IFLA_XDP_FLAGS])
+		flags = rta_getattr_u32(tb[IFLA_XDP_FLAGS]);
+
+	fprintf(fp, "xdp%s ",
+		flags & XDP_FLAGS_SKB_MODE ? "generic" : "");
 }
diff --git a/ip/xdp.h b/ip/xdp.h
index bc696458..1b95e0f6 100644
--- a/ip/xdp.h
+++ b/ip/xdp.h
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "utils.h"
 
-int xdp_parse(int *argc, char ***argv, struct iplink_req *req);
+int xdp_parse(int *argc, char ***argv, struct iplink_req *req, bool generic);
 void xdp_dump(FILE *fp, struct rtattr *tb);
 
 #endif /* __XDP__ */
diff --git a/man/man8/ip-link.8.in b/man/man8/ip-link.8.in
index a5ddfe7a..52571b72 100644
--- a/man/man8/ip-link.8.in
+++ b/man/man8/ip-link.8.in
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ ip-link \- network device configuration
 .RB "[ " port_guid " eui64 ] ]"
 .br
 .in -9
-.RB "[ " xdp  " { " off " | "
+.RB "[ { " xdp " | " xdpgeneric  " } { " off " | "
 .br
 .in +8
 .BR object
@@ -1572,8 +1572,23 @@ which may impact security and/or performance. (e.g. VF multicast promiscuous mod
 
 .TP
 .B xdp object "|" pinned "|" off
-set (or unset) a XDP ("express data path") BPF program to run on every
+set (or unset) a XDP ("eXpress Data Path") BPF program to run on every
 packet at driver level.
+.B ip link
+output will indicate a
+.B xdp
+flag for the networking device. If the driver does not have native XDP
+support, the kernel will fall back to a slower, driver-independent "generic"
+XDP variant. The
+.B ip link
+output will in that case indicate
+.B xdpgeneric
+instead of
+.B xdp
+only. If the driver does have native XDP support, but the program is
+loaded under
+.B xdpgeneric object "|" pinned
+then the kernel will use the generic XDP variant instead of the native one.
 
 .B off
 (or