diff --git a/.ci/linux-build.sh b/.ci/linux-build.sh
index 702feeb3bb3..8cdccef2797 100755
--- a/.ci/linux-build.sh
+++ b/.ci/linux-build.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ SPARSE_FLAGS=""
 EXTRA_OPTS="--enable-Werror"
 JOBS=${JOBS:-"-j4"}
 
+[ -z "$DPDK_EXPERIMENTAL" ] || DPDK=1
+[ -z "$DPDK_SHARED" ] || DPDK=1
+
 function install_dpdk()
 {
     local DPDK_INSTALL_DIR="$(pwd)/dpdk-dir"
@@ -108,8 +111,11 @@ assert ovs.json.from_string('{\"a\": 42}') == {'a': 42}"
     exit 0
 fi
 
-if [ "$DPDK" ] || [ "$DPDK_SHARED" ]; then
+if [ "$DPDK" ]; then
     install_dpdk
+    if [ -n "$DPDK_EXPERIMENTAL" ]; then
+        CFLAGS_FOR_OVS="${CFLAGS_FOR_OVS} -DALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API"
+    fi
 fi
 
 if [ "$STD" ]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml b/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml
index 1af3e365c44..9d5697469af 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ jobs:
       CC:          ${{ matrix.compiler }}
       DPDK:        ${{ matrix.dpdk }}
       DPDK_SHARED: ${{ matrix.dpdk_shared }}
+      DPDK_EXPERIMENTAL: ${{ matrix.dpdk_experimental }}
       LIBS:        ${{ matrix.libs }}
       M32:         ${{ matrix.m32 }}
       OPTS:        ${{ matrix.opts }}
@@ -218,6 +219,9 @@ jobs:
             dpdk_shared:  dpdk-shared
             opts:         --enable-shared
 
+          - compiler:     gcc
+            dpdk_experimental: dpdk-experimental
+
           - compiler:     gcc
             m32:          m32
             opts:         --disable-ssl
@@ -280,7 +284,7 @@ jobs:
         python-version: ${{ env.python_default }}
 
     - name: DPDK cache
-      if:   matrix.dpdk != '' || matrix.dpdk_shared != ''
+      if:   matrix.dpdk != '' || matrix.dpdk_shared != '' || matrix.dpdk_experimental != ''
       uses: actions/cache@v4
       with:
         path: dpdk-dir