diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/freebsd/eal/eal_memory.c b/lib/librte_eal/freebsd/eal/eal_memory.c
index fb1549fbe6..1cc36dff60 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/freebsd/eal/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/freebsd/eal/eal_memory.c
@@ -508,8 +508,8 @@ memseg_secondary_init(void)
 
 		msl = &mcfg->memsegs[msl_idx];
 
-		/* skip empty memseg lists */
-		if (msl->memseg_arr.len == 0)
+		/* skip empty and external memseg lists */
+		if (msl->memseg_arr.len == 0 || msl->external)
 			continue;
 
 		if (rte_fbarray_attach(&msl->memseg_arr)) {
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/linux/eal/eal_memory.c b/lib/librte_eal/linux/eal/eal_memory.c
index c93d9bb2b8..e7ab3aaf17 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/linux/eal/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/linux/eal/eal_memory.c
@@ -2423,8 +2423,8 @@ memseg_secondary_init(void)
 
 		msl = &mcfg->memsegs[msl_idx];
 
-		/* skip empty memseg lists */
-		if (msl->memseg_arr.len == 0)
+		/* skip empty and external memseg lists */
+		if (msl->memseg_arr.len == 0 || msl->external)
 			continue;
 
 		if (rte_fbarray_attach(&msl->memseg_arr)) {