diff --git a/arch/mips/alchemy/devboards/prom.c b/arch/mips/alchemy/devboards/prom.c
index b30df5c97ad35e46e534b047c144975c01db6b76..baeb21385058b8d5efe5e046620e66746b754d73 100644
--- a/arch/mips/alchemy/devboards/prom.c
+++ b/arch/mips/alchemy/devboards/prom.c
@@ -54,10 +54,9 @@ void __init prom_init(void)
 
 	prom_init_cmdline();
 	memsize_str = prom_getenv("memsize");
-	if (!memsize_str)
+	if (!memsize_str || strict_strtoul(memsize_str, 0, &memsize))
 		memsize = ALCHEMY_BOARD_DEFAULT_MEMSIZE;
-	else
-		strict_strtoul(memsize_str, 0, &memsize);
+
 	add_memory_region(0, memsize, BOOT_MEM_RAM);
 }