diff --git a/arch/arc/kernel/head.S b/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
index 1f945d0f40daa4d5803428867d8111bb93ba14a0..208bf2c9e7b0d98b97e1778addd3bfea3e3424ce 100644
--- a/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
+++ b/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ ENTRY(stext)
 	;    r2 = pointer to uboot provided cmdline or external DTB in mem
 	; These are handled later in handle_uboot_args()
 	st	r0, [@uboot_tag]
+	st      r1, [@uboot_magic]
 	st	r2, [@uboot_arg]
 #endif
 
diff --git a/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c b/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c
index 3320ca2fe20f4db03e5ebf6b0be897f7df1ef1ef..a1218937abd68ac1ba3905762cde0be5a1bcf027 100644
--- a/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c
+++ b/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ unsigned int intr_to_DE_cnt;
 
 /* Part of U-boot ABI: see head.S */
 int __initdata uboot_tag;
+int __initdata uboot_magic;
 char __initdata *uboot_arg;
 
 const struct machine_desc *machine_desc;
@@ -484,6 +485,8 @@ static inline bool uboot_arg_invalid(unsigned long addr)
 #define UBOOT_TAG_NONE		0
 #define UBOOT_TAG_CMDLINE	1
 #define UBOOT_TAG_DTB		2
+/* We always pass 0 as magic from U-boot */
+#define UBOOT_MAGIC_VALUE	0
 
 void __init handle_uboot_args(void)
 {
@@ -499,6 +502,11 @@ void __init handle_uboot_args(void)
 		goto ignore_uboot_args;
 	}
 
+	if (uboot_magic != UBOOT_MAGIC_VALUE) {
+		pr_warn(IGNORE_ARGS "non zero uboot magic\n");
+		goto ignore_uboot_args;
+	}
+
 	if (uboot_tag != UBOOT_TAG_NONE &&
             uboot_arg_invalid((unsigned long)uboot_arg)) {
 		pr_warn(IGNORE_ARGS "invalid uboot arg: '%px'\n", uboot_arg);