diff --git a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/README.md b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/README.md
index 1f08fe925..75680f3d6 100644
--- a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/README.md
+++ b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/README.md
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ No requirement.
 
 ## Role Variables
 
-No variable.
+| Variable                             | Default | Description                                                                                                            |
+|--------------------------------------|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `deploy_python3_setup_ovs_qemu_user` | `qemu`  | System user that runs QEMU guests. Used for ownership of the OVS VM socket directory. Set to `libvirt-qemu` on Debian. |
 
 ## Example Playbook
 
diff --git a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/defaults/main.yml b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bed324e5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2025 RTE
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+---
+deploy_python3_setup_ovs_qemu_user: qemu
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/tasks/main.yml b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/tasks/main.yml
index 141d907af..60643dc79 100644
--- a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/tasks/main.yml
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
   command:
     cmd: "/usr/bin/pip install {{ deploy_python3_setup_ovs_pip_options }} /tmp/src/python3-setup-ovs"
   changed_when: true
-- name: Copy seapath-config_ovs.service
-  ansible.builtin.copy:
-    src: seapath-config_ovs.service
+- name: Deploy seapath-config_ovs.service
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: seapath-config_ovs.service.j2
     dest: /etc/systemd/system/seapath-config_ovs.service
     mode: '0644'
   notify: Trigger daemon-reload
diff --git a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/files/seapath-config_ovs.service b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/templates/seapath-config_ovs.service.j2
similarity index 60%
rename from roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/files/seapath-config_ovs.service
rename to roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/templates/seapath-config_ovs.service.j2
index c2ac4b98e..f5196b99f 100644
--- a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/files/seapath-config_ovs.service
+++ b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/templates/seapath-config_ovs.service.j2
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ Before=systemd-networkd.service
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
 RemainAfterExit=true
+ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /var/run/openvswitch/vm-sockets
+ExecStartPre=/bin/chown {{ deploy_python3_setup_ovs_qemu_user }}:root /var/run/openvswitch/vm-sockets
+ExecStartPre=/bin/chmod 0750 /var/run/openvswitch/vm-sockets
 ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/setup_ovs
 
 [Install]
diff --git a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/vars/Debian.yml b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/vars/Debian.yml
index d941046da..7595c2e17 100644
--- a/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/vars/Debian.yml
+++ b/roles/deploy_python3_setup_ovs/vars/Debian.yml
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 deploy_python3_setup_ovs_pip_options: "--root-user-action=ignore --no-build-isolation --prefix=/usr/"
+deploy_python3_setup_ovs_qemu_user: libvirt-qemu
diff --git a/roles/network_configovs/tasks/main.yml b/roles/network_configovs/tasks/main.yml
index 23aec012b..560f8a9eb 100644
--- a/roles/network_configovs/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/network_configovs/tasks/main.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,40 @@
 - name: Load distribution-specific variables
   include_vars: "{{ seapath_distro }}.yml"
 
+- name: Detect DPDK usage from OVS bridge configuration
+  set_fact:
+    dpdk_enabled: >-
+      {{ ovs_bridges | default([])
+         | map(attribute='ports', default=[])
+         | flatten
+         | selectattr('type', 'in', ['dpdk', 'dpdkvhostuserclient'])
+         | list | length > 0 }}
+  when: seapath_distro == "Debian"
+
+- name: Load vfio-pci module for DPDK
+  community.general.modprobe:
+    name: vfio-pci
+    state: present
+    persistent: present
+  when:
+    - dpdk_enabled | bool
+
+- name: Switch to OVS with DPDK support
+  community.general.alternatives:
+    name: ovs-vswitchd
+    path: /usr/lib/openvswitch-switch-dpdk/ovs-vswitchd-dpdk
+  when:
+    - seapath_distro == "Debian"
+    - dpdk_enabled | bool
+
+- name: Switch to OVS without DPDK support
+  community.general.alternatives:
+    name: ovs-vswitchd
+    path: /usr/lib/openvswitch-switch/ovs-vswitchd
+  when:
+    - seapath_distro == "Debian"
+    - not dpdk_enabled | bool
+
 - name: Create OVS configuration
   template:
     src: ovs_configuration.json.j2