diff --git a/hw/mips/mips_malta.c b/hw/mips/mips_malta.c
index 8ecd544baa82dc27acec7510d8c85f2c175929ec..9dcec27304ddf753b5a29d049a659b692e7e495d 100644
--- a/hw/mips/mips_malta.c
+++ b/hw/mips/mips_malta.c
@@ -843,7 +843,10 @@ static int64_t load_kernel (void)
     if (loaderparams.initrd_filename) {
         initrd_size = get_image_size (loaderparams.initrd_filename);
         if (initrd_size > 0) {
-            initrd_offset = (loaderparams.ram_low_size - initrd_size
+            /* The kernel allocates the bootmap memory in the low memory after
+               the initrd.  It takes at most 128kiB for 2GB RAM and 4kiB
+               pages.  */
+            initrd_offset = (loaderparams.ram_low_size - initrd_size - 131072
                              - ~INITRD_PAGE_MASK) & INITRD_PAGE_MASK;
             if (kernel_high >= initrd_offset) {
                 fprintf(stderr,