diff --git a/arch/mips/Kconfig b/arch/mips/Kconfig
index b09eee2281c514cbd46119fd1c19f333768285ff..492f581fe6baabab5c28515134f53caa4bf7f3bb 100644
--- a/arch/mips/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/mips/Kconfig
@@ -1853,21 +1853,6 @@ source "fs/Kconfig.binfmt"
 config TRAD_SIGNALS
 	bool
 
-config BUILD_ELF64
-	bool "Use 64-bit ELF format for building"
-	depends on 64BIT
-	help
-	  A 64-bit kernel is usually built using the 64-bit ELF binary object
-	  format as it's one that allows arbitrary 64-bit constructs.  For
-	  kernels that are loaded within the KSEG compatibility segments the
-	  32-bit ELF format can optionally be used resulting in a somewhat
-	  smaller binary, but this option is not explicitly supported by the
-	  toolchain and since binutils 2.14 it does not even work at all.
-
-	  Say Y to use the 64-bit format or N to use the 32-bit one.
-
-	  If unsure say Y.
-
 config BINFMT_IRIX
 	bool "Include IRIX binary compatibility"
 	depends on CPU_BIG_ENDIAN && 32BIT && BROKEN
diff --git a/arch/mips/Makefile b/arch/mips/Makefile
index d5d5831b6e248990f31d2cb9db778ad0c947c1d7..4337c492ed1b2567b93594022a849f6b90945961 100644
--- a/arch/mips/Makefile
+++ b/arch/mips/Makefile
@@ -60,9 +60,6 @@ vmlinux-32		= vmlinux.32
 vmlinux-64		= vmlinux
 
 cflags-y		+= -mabi=64
-ifndef CONFIG_BUILD_ELF64
-cflags-y		+= $(call cc-option,-msym32)
-endif
 endif
 
 all-$(CONFIG_BOOT_ELF32)	:= $(vmlinux-32)
@@ -576,6 +573,26 @@ else
 JIFFIES			= jiffies_64
 endif
 
+#
+# Automatically detect the build format. By default we choose
+# the elf format according to the load address.
+# We can always force a build with a 64-bits symbol format by
+# passing 'BUILD_ELF32=no' option to the make's command line.
+#
+ifdef CONFIG_64BIT
+  ifndef BUILD_ELF32
+    ifeq ($(shell expr $(load-y) \< 0xffffffff80000000), 0)
+      BUILD_ELF32 = y
+    endif
+  endif
+
+  ifeq ($(BUILD_ELF32), y)
+    cflags-y += -msym32
+  else
+    cflags-y += -DCONFIG_BUILD_ELF64
+  endif
+endif
+
 AFLAGS		+= $(cflags-y)
 CFLAGS		+= $(cflags-y) \
 			-D"VMLINUX_LOAD_ADDRESS=$(load-y)"
diff --git a/include/asm-mips/page.h b/include/asm-mips/page.h
index e3301e54d559c9586bf47c31b0486af12d9e2ab6..b92dd8c760da5d8a600f6abb33bd62b9bc6c1146 100644
--- a/include/asm-mips/page.h
+++ b/include/asm-mips/page.h
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ typedef struct { unsigned long pgprot; } pgprot_t;
 /*
  * __pa()/__va() should be used only during mem init.
  */
-#ifdef CONFIG_64BIT
+#if defined(CONFIG_64BIT) && !defined(CONFIG_BUILD_ELF64)
 #define __pa(x)								\
 ({									\
     unsigned long __x = (unsigned long)(x);				\