diff --git a/config.yaml b/config.yaml
index 36e5298d..0e84d6e3 100644
--- a/config.yaml
+++ b/config.yaml
@@ -96,6 +96,13 @@ options:
       <physical_network> specifying physical_network names usable for VLAN
       provider and tenant networks, as well as ranges of VLAN tags on each
       available for allocation to tenant networks.
+  firewall-driver:
+    type: string
+    default:
+    description: |
+      Firewall driver to use to support use of security groups with
+      instances; valid values include iptables_hybrid (default) and
+      openvswitch (>= Mitaka on Ubuntu 16.04 or later).
   # Network configuration options
   # by default all access is over 'private-address'
   os-data-network:
diff --git a/hooks/neutron_ovs_context.py b/hooks/neutron_ovs_context.py
index 08d793b0..240d6886 100644
--- a/hooks/neutron_ovs_context.py
+++ b/hooks/neutron_ovs_context.py
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ from charmhelpers.core.hookenv import (
     unit_get,
     network_get_primary_address,
 )
+from charmhelpers.core.host import (
+    CompareHostReleases,
+    lsb_release,
+)
 from charmhelpers.contrib.openstack import context
 from charmhelpers.contrib.openstack.utils import get_host_ip
 from charmhelpers.contrib.network.ip import get_address_in_network
@@ -34,6 +38,31 @@ from charmhelpers.contrib.openstack.context import (
 )
 from charmhelpers.core.unitdata import kv
 
+IPTABLES_HYBRID = 'iptables_hybrid'
+OPENVSWITCH = 'openvswitch'
+VALID_FIREWALL_DRIVERS = (IPTABLES_HYBRID, OPENVSWITCH)
+
+
+def _get_firewall_driver():
+    '''
+    Determine the firewall driver to use based on configuration,
+    OpenStack and Ubuntu releases.
+
+    @returns str: firewall driver to use for OpenvSwitch
+    '''
+    driver = config('firewall-driver') or IPTABLES_HYBRID
+    release = lsb_release()['DISTRIB_CODENAME']
+    if driver not in VALID_FIREWALL_DRIVERS:
+        return IPTABLES_HYBRID
+    if (driver == OPENVSWITCH and
+            CompareHostReleases(release) < 'xenial'):
+        # NOTE(jamespage): Switch back to iptables_hybrid for
+        #                  Ubuntu releases prior to Xenial due
+        #                  to requirements for Linux >= 4.4 and
+        #                  Open vSwitch >= 2.5
+        return IPTABLES_HYBRID
+    return driver
+
 
 class OVSPluginContext(context.NeutronContext):
     interfaces = []
@@ -117,6 +146,8 @@ class OVSPluginContext(context.NeutronContext):
         if vlan_ranges:
             ovs_ctxt['vlan_ranges'] = ','.join(vlan_ranges.split())
 
+        ovs_ctxt['firewall_driver'] = _get_firewall_driver()
+
         return ovs_ctxt
 
 
diff --git a/templates/mitaka/openvswitch_agent.ini b/templates/mitaka/openvswitch_agent.ini
index 58c9d340..54a77aae 100644
--- a/templates/mitaka/openvswitch_agent.ini
+++ b/templates/mitaka/openvswitch_agent.ini
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ veth_mtu = {{ veth_mtu }}
 [securitygroup]
 {% if neutron_security_groups and not enable_dpdk -%}
 enable_security_group = True
-firewall_driver = neutron.agent.linux.iptables_firewall.OVSHybridIptablesFirewallDriver
+firewall_driver = {{ firewall_driver }}
 {% else -%}
 enable_security_group = False
 {% endif -%}
diff --git a/unit_tests/test_neutron_ovs_context.py b/unit_tests/test_neutron_ovs_context.py
index 3fbe9fb2..f0866385 100644
--- a/unit_tests/test_neutron_ovs_context.py
+++ b/unit_tests/test_neutron_ovs_context.py
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ from mock import patch, Mock
 import neutron_ovs_context as context
 import charmhelpers
 
+_LSB_RELEASE_XENIAL = {
+    'DISTRIB_CODENAME': 'xenial',
+}
+
+_LSB_RELEASE_TRUSTY = {
+    'DISTRIB_CODENAME': 'trusty',
+}
+
 TO_PATCH = [
     'config',
     'unit_get',
@@ -28,6 +36,7 @@ TO_PATCH = [
     'relation_ids',
     'relation_get',
     'related_units',
+    'lsb_release',
 ]
 
 
@@ -48,6 +57,7 @@ class OVSPluginContextTest(CharmTestCase):
         self.test_config.set('verbose', True)
         self.test_config.set('use-syslog', True)
         self.network_get_primary_address.side_effect = NotImplementedError
+        self.lsb_release.return_value = _LSB_RELEASE_XENIAL
 
     def tearDown(self):
         super(OVSPluginContextTest, self).tearDown()
@@ -152,6 +162,7 @@ class OVSPluginContextTest(CharmTestCase):
             'config': 'neutron.randomconfig',
             'use_syslog': True,
             'enable_dpdk': False,
+            'firewall_driver': 'iptables_hybrid',
             'network_manager': 'neutron',
             'debug': True,
             'core_plugin': 'neutron.randomdriver',
@@ -219,6 +230,7 @@ class OVSPluginContextTest(CharmTestCase):
             'config': 'neutron.randomconfig',
             'use_syslog': True,
             'enable_dpdk': False,
+            'firewall_driver': 'iptables_hybrid',
             'network_manager': 'neutron',
             'debug': True,
             'core_plugin': 'neutron.randomdriver',
@@ -580,3 +592,39 @@ class TestRemoteRestartContext(CharmTestCase):
             context.RemoteRestartContext()(),
             {'restart_trigger_neutron': 'neutron-uuid'}
         )
+
+
+class TestFirewallDriver(CharmTestCase):
+
+    TO_PATCH = [
+        'config',
+        'lsb_release',
+    ]
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(TestFirewallDriver, self).setUp(context,
+                                              self.TO_PATCH)
+        self.config.side_effect = self.test_config.get
+
+    def test_get_firewall_driver_xenial_unset(self):
+        self.lsb_release.return_value = _LSB_RELEASE_XENIAL
+        self.assertEqual(context._get_firewall_driver(),
+                         context.IPTABLES_HYBRID)
+
+    def test_get_firewall_driver_xenial_openvswitch(self):
+        self.test_config.set('firewall-driver', 'openvswitch')
+        self.lsb_release.return_value = _LSB_RELEASE_XENIAL
+        self.assertEqual(context._get_firewall_driver(),
+                         context.OPENVSWITCH)
+
+    def test_get_firewall_driver_xenial_invalid(self):
+        self.test_config.set('firewall-driver', 'foobar')
+        self.lsb_release.return_value = _LSB_RELEASE_XENIAL
+        self.assertEqual(context._get_firewall_driver(),
+                         context.IPTABLES_HYBRID)
+
+    def test_get_firewall_driver_trusty_openvswitch(self):
+        self.test_config.set('firewall-driver', 'openvswitch')
+        self.lsb_release.return_value = _LSB_RELEASE_TRUSTY
+        self.assertEqual(context._get_firewall_driver(),
+                         context.IPTABLES_HYBRID)