diff --git a/drivers/mtd/parsers/cmdlinepart.c b/drivers/mtd/parsers/cmdlinepart.c
index c86f2db8c882..0625b25620ca 100644
--- a/drivers/mtd/parsers/cmdlinepart.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/parsers/cmdlinepart.c
@@ -218,12 +218,29 @@ static int mtdpart_setup_real(char *s)
 		struct cmdline_mtd_partition *this_mtd;
 		struct mtd_partition *parts;
 		int mtd_id_len, num_parts;
-		char *p, *mtd_id;
+		char *p, *mtd_id, *semicol;
+
+		/*
+		 * Replace the first ';' by a NULL char so strrchr can work
+		 * properly.
+		 */
+		semicol = strchr(s, ';');
+		if (semicol)
+			*semicol = '\0';
 
 		mtd_id = s;
 
-		/* fetch <mtd-id> */
-		p = strchr(s, ':');
+		/*
+		 * fetch <mtd-id>. We use strrchr to ignore all ':' that could
+		 * be present in the MTD name, only the last one is interpreted
+		 * as an <mtd-id>/<part-definition> separator.
+		 */
+		p = strrchr(s, ':');
+
+		/* Restore the ';' now. */
+		if (semicol)
+			*semicol = ';';
+
 		if (!p) {
 			pr_err("no mtd-id\n");
 			return -EINVAL;