diff --git a/arch/mips/Kconfig b/arch/mips/Kconfig
index 4da736e25333..49896a2a1d72 100644
--- a/arch/mips/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/mips/Kconfig
@@ -1886,6 +1886,15 @@ config STACKTRACE_SUPPORT
 
 source "init/Kconfig"
 
+config PROBE_INITRD_HEADER
+	bool "Probe initrd header created by addinitrd"
+	depends on BLK_DEV_INITRD
+	help
+	  Probe initrd header at the last page of kernel image.
+	  Say Y here if you are using arch/mips/boot/addinitrd.c to
+	  add initrd or initramfs image to the kernel image.
+	  Otherwise, say N.
+
 menu "Bus options (PCI, PCMCIA, EISA, ISA, TC)"
 
 config HW_HAS_EISA
diff --git a/arch/mips/kernel/setup.c b/arch/mips/kernel/setup.c
index 2aae76bce293..16f8edfe5cdc 100644
--- a/arch/mips/kernel/setup.c
+++ b/arch/mips/kernel/setup.c
@@ -160,30 +160,33 @@ early_param("rd_size", rd_size_early);
 static unsigned long __init init_initrd(void)
 {
 	unsigned long end;
-	u32 *initrd_header;
 
 	/*
 	 * Board specific code or command line parser should have
 	 * already set up initrd_start and initrd_end. In these cases
 	 * perfom sanity checks and use them if all looks good.
 	 */
-	if (initrd_start && initrd_end > initrd_start)
-		goto sanitize;
+	if (!initrd_start || initrd_end <= initrd_start) {
+#ifdef CONFIG_PROBE_INITRD_HEADER
+		u32 *initrd_header;
 
-	/*
-	 * See if initrd has been added to the kernel image by
-	 * arch/mips/boot/addinitrd.c. In that case a header is
-	 * prepended to initrd and is made up by 8 bytes. The fisrt
-	 * word is a magic number and the second one is the size of
-	 * initrd.  Initrd start must be page aligned in any cases.
-	 */
-	initrd_header = __va(PAGE_ALIGN(__pa_symbol(&_end) + 8)) - 8;
-	if (initrd_header[0] != 0x494E5244)
+		/*
+		 * See if initrd has been added to the kernel image by
+		 * arch/mips/boot/addinitrd.c. In that case a header is
+		 * prepended to initrd and is made up by 8 bytes. The first
+		 * word is a magic number and the second one is the size of
+		 * initrd.  Initrd start must be page aligned in any cases.
+		 */
+		initrd_header = __va(PAGE_ALIGN(__pa_symbol(&_end) + 8)) - 8;
+		if (initrd_header[0] != 0x494E5244)
+			goto disable;
+		initrd_start = (unsigned long)(initrd_header + 2);
+		initrd_end = initrd_start + initrd_header[1];
+#else
 		goto disable;
-	initrd_start = (unsigned long)(initrd_header + 2);
-	initrd_end = initrd_start + initrd_header[1];
+#endif
+	}
 
-sanitize:
 	if (initrd_start & ~PAGE_MASK) {
 		pr_err("initrd start must be page aligned\n");
 		goto disable;