diff --git a/drivers/ieee1394/highlevel.c b/drivers/ieee1394/highlevel.c
index 491e6032bdec..29c5255b933c 100644
--- a/drivers/ieee1394/highlevel.c
+++ b/drivers/ieee1394/highlevel.c
@@ -312,8 +312,10 @@ u64 hpsb_allocate_and_register_addrspace(struct hpsb_highlevel *hl,
 		return retval;
 	}
 
+	/* default range,
+	 * avoids controller's posted write area (see OHCI 1.1 clause 1.5) */
 	if (start == ~0ULL && end == ~0ULL) {
-		start = CSR1212_ALL_SPACE_BASE + 0xffff00000000ULL;  /* ohci1394.c limit */
+		start = host->middle_addr_space;
 		end = CSR1212_ALL_SPACE_END;
 	}
 
diff --git a/drivers/ieee1394/hosts.h b/drivers/ieee1394/hosts.h
index 9ddc6628e710..9ad4b2463077 100644
--- a/drivers/ieee1394/hosts.h
+++ b/drivers/ieee1394/hosts.h
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ struct hpsb_host {
 	unsigned int config_roms;
 
 	struct list_head addr_space;
+	u64 low_addr_space;	/* upper bound of physical DMA area */
+	u64 middle_addr_space;	/* upper bound of posted write area */
 };