diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptarget.h b/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptarget.h
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptarget.h
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptarget.h
@@ -86,6 +86,13 @@
   OMP_REQ_DYNAMIC_ALLOCATORS      = 0x010
 };
 
+enum TargetAllocTy : int32_t {
+  TARGET_ALLOC_DEVICE = 0,
+  TARGET_ALLOC_HOST,
+  TARGET_ALLOC_SHARED,
+  TARGET_ALLOC_DEFAULT
+};
+
 /// This struct is a record of an entry point or global. For a function
 /// entry point the size is expected to be zero
 struct __tgt_offload_entry {
@@ -190,6 +197,12 @@
                              size_t device_offset, int device_num);
 int omp_target_disassociate_ptr(void *host_ptr, int device_num);
 
+/// Explicit target memory allocators
+/// Using the llvm_ prefix until they become part of the OpenMP standard.
+void *llvm_omp_target_alloc_device(size_t size, int device_num);
+void *llvm_omp_target_alloc_host(size_t size, int device_num);
+void *llvm_omp_target_alloc_shared(size_t size, int device_num);
+
 /// add the clauses of the requires directives in a given file
 void __tgt_register_requires(int64_t flags);
 
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptargetplugin.h b/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptargetplugin.h
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptargetplugin.h
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/include/omptargetplugin.h
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@
 // case an error occurred on the target device.
 void *__tgt_rtl_data_alloc(int32_t ID, int64_t Size, void *HostPtr);
 
+// Explicit target memory allocator
+void *__tgt_rtl_data_alloc_explicit(int32_t ID, int64_t Size, int32_t Kind);
+
 // Pass the data content to the target device using the target address. In case
 // of success, return zero. Otherwise, return an error code.
 int32_t __tgt_rtl_data_submit(int32_t ID, void *TargetPtr, void *HostPtr,
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/exports b/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/exports
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/exports
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/exports
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
     __tgt_rtl_init_device;
     __tgt_rtl_load_binary;
     __tgt_rtl_data_alloc;
+    __tgt_rtl_data_alloc_explicit;
     __tgt_rtl_data_submit;
     __tgt_rtl_data_submit_async;
     __tgt_rtl_data_retrieve;
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/generic-elf-64bit/src/rtl.cpp b/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/generic-elf-64bit/src/rtl.cpp
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/generic-elf-64bit/src/rtl.cpp
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/plugins/generic-elf-64bit/src/rtl.cpp
@@ -255,6 +255,25 @@
   return ptr;
 }
 
+// Sample implementation of explicit memory allocator. For this plugin all kinds
+// are equivalent to each other.
+void *__tgt_rtl_data_alloc_explicit(int32_t device_id, int64_t size,
+                                    int32_t kind) {
+  void *ptr = NULL;
+
+  switch (kind) {
+  case TARGET_ALLOC_DEVICE:
+  case TARGET_ALLOC_HOST:
+  case TARGET_ALLOC_SHARED:
+    ptr = malloc(size);
+    break;
+  default:
+    REPORT("Invalid target data allocation kind");
+  }
+
+  return ptr;
+}
+
 int32_t __tgt_rtl_data_submit(int32_t device_id, void *tgt_ptr, void *hst_ptr,
                               int64_t size) {
   memcpy(tgt_ptr, hst_ptr, size);
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/src/api.cpp b/openmp/libomptarget/src/api.cpp
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/src/api.cpp
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/src/api.cpp
@@ -326,3 +326,44 @@
   DP("omp_target_disassociate_ptr returns %d\n", rc);
   return rc;
 }
+
+static void *targetAllocExplicit(size_t size, int device_num, int kind,
+                                 const char *name) {
+  TIMESCOPE();
+  DP("Call to %s for device %d requesting %zu bytes\n", name, device_num, size);
+
+  if (size <= 0) {
+    DP("Call to %s with non-positive length\n", name);
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  void *rc = NULL;
+
+  if (device_num == omp_get_initial_device()) {
+    rc = malloc(size);
+    DP("%s returns host ptr " DPxMOD "\n", name, DPxPTR(rc));
+    return rc;
+  }
+
+  if (!device_is_ready(device_num)) {
+    DP("%s returns NULL ptr\n", name);
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  DeviceTy &Device = PM->Devices[device_num];
+  rc = Device.allocDataExplicit(size, kind);
+  DP("%s returns device ptr " DPxMOD "\n", name, DPxPTR(rc));
+  return rc;
+}
+
+EXTERN void *llvm_omp_target_alloc_device(size_t size, int device_num) {
+  return targetAllocExplicit(size, device_num, TARGET_ALLOC_DEVICE, __func__);
+}
+
+EXTERN void *llvm_omp_target_alloc_host(size_t size, int device_num) {
+  return targetAllocExplicit(size, device_num, TARGET_ALLOC_HOST, __func__);
+}
+
+EXTERN void *llvm_omp_target_alloc_shared(size_t size, int device_num) {
+  return targetAllocExplicit(size, device_num, TARGET_ALLOC_SHARED, __func__);
+}
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.h b/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.h
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.h
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.h
@@ -192,6 +192,9 @@
   /// pointer association. Actually, all the __tgt_rtl_data_alloc
   /// implementations ignore \p HstPtr.
   void *allocData(int64_t Size, void *HstPtr = nullptr);
+  /// Allocates \p Size bytes on the host or device or shared memory space,
+  /// depending on \p Kind.
+  void *allocDataExplicit(int64_t Size, int32_t Kind);
   /// Deallocates memory which \p TgtPtrBegin points at and returns
   /// OFFLOAD_SUCCESS/OFFLOAD_FAIL when succeeds/fails.
   int32_t deleteData(void *TgtPtrBegin);
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.cpp b/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.cpp
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.cpp
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/src/device.cpp
@@ -409,6 +409,13 @@
   return RTL->data_alloc(RTLDeviceID, Size, HstPtr);
 }
 
+void *DeviceTy::allocDataExplicit(int64_t Size, int32_t Kind) {
+  if (RTL->data_alloc_explicit)
+    return RTL->data_alloc_explicit(RTLDeviceID, Size, Kind);
+  else
+    return nullptr;
+}
+
 int32_t DeviceTy::deleteData(void *TgtPtrBegin) {
   return RTL->data_delete(RTLDeviceID, TgtPtrBegin);
 }
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/src/exports b/openmp/libomptarget/src/exports
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/src/exports
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/src/exports
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@
     omp_target_memcpy_rect;
     omp_target_associate_ptr;
     omp_target_disassociate_ptr;
+    llvm_omp_target_alloc_host;
+    llvm_omp_target_alloc_shared;
+    llvm_omp_target_alloc_device;
     __kmpc_push_target_tripcount;
   local:
     *;
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.h b/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.h
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.h
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.h
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
   typedef int32_t(init_device_ty)(int32_t);
   typedef __tgt_target_table *(load_binary_ty)(int32_t, void *);
   typedef void *(data_alloc_ty)(int32_t, int64_t, void *);
+  typedef void *(data_alloc_explicit_ty)(int32_t, int64_t, int32_t);
   typedef int32_t(data_submit_ty)(int32_t, void *, void *, int64_t);
   typedef int32_t(data_submit_async_ty)(int32_t, void *, void *, int64_t,
                                         __tgt_async_info *);
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@
   init_device_ty *init_device = nullptr;
   load_binary_ty *load_binary = nullptr;
   data_alloc_ty *data_alloc = nullptr;
+  data_alloc_explicit_ty *data_alloc_explicit = nullptr;
   data_submit_ty *data_submit = nullptr;
   data_submit_async_ty *data_submit_async = nullptr;
   data_retrieve_ty *data_retrieve = nullptr;
diff --git a/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.cpp b/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.cpp
--- a/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.cpp
+++ b/openmp/libomptarget/src/rtl.cpp
@@ -175,6 +175,8 @@
         dlsym(dynlib_handle, "__tgt_rtl_unregister_lib");
     *((void **)&R.supports_empty_images) =
         dlsym(dynlib_handle, "__tgt_rtl_supports_empty_images");
+    *((void **)&R.data_alloc_explicit) =
+        dlsym(dynlib_handle, "__tgt_rtl_data_alloc_explicit");
   }
 
   DP("RTLs loaded!\n");