diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S b/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
index 0587d9c4609d..d0239bf8d4cc 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ SECTIONS
 #ifdef CONFIG_PPC32
   /* Read-write section, merged into data segment: */
   . = ALIGN(4096);
+  _sdata = .;
   .data    :
   {
     *(.data)