Dane Paterson, the South Africa seamer, has signed a deal to play for Nottinghamshire as an overseas player in 2021.
Paterson, 31, had previously been linked with a Kolpak move before Covid-19 struck last year. He has not played in his home country since the 2019-20 summer, when he made the first of two Test appearances against England.
The right-arm quick has also featured in four ODIs and eight T20Is for South Africa after first being capped in 2017.
"We always look to sign players who will make us better, and there's no doubt Dane has the pedigree to do that," Nottinghamshire's head coach, Peter Moores, said.
"When overseas players commit themselves fully to a club and deliver consistently on the field, we've seen many times before how valuable they can be in the county game. In the case of Dane, we believe we've found a player of international quality, playing at the top of his game and who we think will represent the club in the right way on and off the field.
"He adds quality and experience to our squad and we're all looking forward to seeing him represent Nottinghamshire."
Paterson has taken more than 350 wickets in his first-class career, as well as 115 in List A and 91 in T20 cricket, the majority for the Cape Cobras franchise. He was released by the Cobras last year after the coach, Ashwell Prince, revealed Paterson wanted to "consider other options".
Paterson said: "Trent Bridge is a world-renowned venue and I can't wait to call it my cricketing home. I'm committing myself fully to the county game with a club I will be passionate about playing for. Hopefully it can be the start of a long and successful association.
"Retaining consistency of skills and physicality across a county campaign is a new and exciting challenge for me to throw myself into. I've been putting in the hard yards to make sure I'm ready to give it my all."
Nottinghamshire had earlier confirmed that Australia allrounder Dan Christian will be returning to lead the T20 side this summer.