diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/ovsdb_monitor.py b/neutron/agent/linux/ovsdb_monitor.py
index a3c16bec3ec..07bde4c4c62 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/ovsdb_monitor.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/ovsdb_monitor.py
@@ -33,14 +33,20 @@ class OvsdbMonitor(async_process.AsyncProcess):
     """Manages an invocation of 'ovsdb-client monitor'."""
 
     def __init__(self, table_name, columns=None, format=None,
-                 respawn_interval=None):
-
-        cmd = ['ovsdb-client', 'monitor', table_name]
+                 respawn_interval=None, ovsdb_connection=None):
+        if ovsdb_connection:
+            # if ovsdb connection is configured (e.g. tcp:ip:port), use it,
+            # and there is no need to run as root
+            cmd = ['ovsdb-client', 'monitor', ovsdb_connection, table_name]
+            run_as_root = False
+        else:
+            cmd = ['ovsdb-client', 'monitor', table_name]
+            run_as_root = True
         if columns:
             cmd.append(','.join(columns))
         if format:
             cmd.append('--format=%s' % format)
-        super(OvsdbMonitor, self).__init__(cmd, run_as_root=True,
+        super(OvsdbMonitor, self).__init__(cmd, run_as_root=run_as_root,
                                            respawn_interval=respawn_interval,
                                            log_output=True,
                                            die_on_error=True)
@@ -54,12 +60,13 @@ class SimpleInterfaceMonitor(OvsdbMonitor):
     since the previous access.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, respawn_interval=None):
+    def __init__(self, respawn_interval=None, ovsdb_connection=None):
         super(SimpleInterfaceMonitor, self).__init__(
             'Interface',
             columns=['name', 'ofport', 'external_ids'],
             format='json',
             respawn_interval=respawn_interval,
+            ovsdb_connection=ovsdb_connection
         )
         self.new_events = {'added': [], 'removed': []}
 
diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/polling.py b/neutron/agent/linux/polling.py
index 0faeb95f144..695fd4bc02d 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/polling.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/polling.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import contextlib
 
 import eventlet
+from oslo_config import cfg
 from oslo_log import log as logging
 
 from neutron.agent.common import base_polling
@@ -51,7 +52,8 @@ class InterfacePollingMinimizer(base_polling.BasePollingManager):
 
         super(InterfacePollingMinimizer, self).__init__()
         self._monitor = ovsdb_monitor.SimpleInterfaceMonitor(
-            respawn_interval=ovsdb_monitor_respawn_interval)
+            respawn_interval=ovsdb_monitor_respawn_interval,
+            ovsdb_connection=cfg.CONF.OVS.ovsdb_connection)
 
     def start(self):
         self._monitor.start(block=True)
diff --git a/neutron/agent/ovsdb/api.py b/neutron/agent/ovsdb/api.py
index 04dae36073b..553d87e04eb 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/ovsdb/api.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/ovsdb/api.py
@@ -34,8 +34,11 @@ OPTS = [
                help=_('The interface for interacting with the OVSDB')),
     cfg.StrOpt('ovsdb_connection',
                default='tcp:127.0.0.1:6640',
-               help=_('The connection string for the native OVSDB backend. '
-                      'Requires the native ovsdb_interface to be enabled.'))
+               help=_('The connection string for the OVSDB backend. '
+                      'Will be used by ovsdb-client when monitoring and '
+                      'used for the all ovsdb commands when native '
+                      'ovsdb_interface is enabled'
+                      ))
 ]
 cfg.CONF.register_opts(OPTS, 'OVS')
 
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_ovsdb_monitor.py b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_ovsdb_monitor.py
index 73a3a08702c..a6e009dcdc2 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_ovsdb_monitor.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_ovsdb_monitor.py
@@ -39,6 +39,18 @@ class TestOvsdbMonitor(base.BaseTestCase):
             cmd = init.call_args_list[0][0][0]
             self.assertEqual('--format=blob', cmd[-1])
 
+    def test__init__with_connection_columns(self):
+        conn_info = 'tcp:10.10.10.10:6640'
+        columns = ['col1', 'col2']
+        with mock.patch(
+            'neutron.agent.linux.async_process.AsyncProcess.__init__') as init:
+            ovsdb_monitor.OvsdbMonitor('Interface', columns=columns,
+                                       ovsdb_connection=conn_info)
+            cmd_all = init.call_args_list[0][0][0]
+            cmd_expect = ['ovsdb-client', 'monitor', 'tcp:10.10.10.10:6640',
+                          'Interface', 'col1,col2']
+            self.assertEqual(cmd_expect, cmd_all)
+
 
 class TestSimpleInterfaceMonitor(base.BaseTestCase):