diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/eeprom.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/eeprom.c
index eb9ac5ea6180..971d770722cf 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/eeprom.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/eeprom.c
@@ -113,12 +113,29 @@ void ath9k_hw_usb_gen_fill_eeprom(struct ath_hw *ah, u16 *eep_data,
 	}
 }
 
+static bool ath9k_hw_nvram_read_blob(struct ath_hw *ah, u32 off,
+				     u16 *data)
+{
+	u16 *blob_data;
+
+	if (off * sizeof(u16) > ah->eeprom_blob->size)
+		return false;
+
+	blob_data = (u16 *)ah->eeprom_blob->data;
+	*data =  blob_data[off];
+	return true;
+}
+
 bool ath9k_hw_nvram_read(struct ath_hw *ah, u32 off, u16 *data)
 {
 	struct ath_common *common = ath9k_hw_common(ah);
 	bool ret;
 
-	ret = common->bus_ops->eeprom_read(common, off, data);
+	if (ah->eeprom_blob)
+		ret = ath9k_hw_nvram_read_blob(ah, off, data);
+	else
+		ret = common->bus_ops->eeprom_read(common, off, data);
+
 	if (!ret)
 		ath_dbg(common, EEPROM,
 			"unable to read eeprom region at offset %u\n", off);
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hw.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hw.h
index eff67592db18..7f1a8e91c908 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hw.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hw.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include <linux/if_ether.h>
 #include <linux/delay.h>
 #include <linux/io.h>
+#include <linux/firmware.h>
 
 #include "mac.h"
 #include "ani.h"
@@ -921,6 +922,8 @@ struct ath_hw {
 	bool is_clk_25mhz;
 	int (*get_mac_revision)(void);
 	int (*external_reset)(void);
+
+	const struct firmware *eeprom_blob;
 };
 
 struct ath_bus_ops {
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c
index 80cae53a33e5..27703a5e48d6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@
 
 #include "ath9k.h"
 
+struct ath9k_eeprom_ctx {
+	struct completion complete;
+	struct ath_hw *ah;
+};
+
 static char *dev_info = "ath9k";
 
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Atheros Communications");
@@ -506,6 +511,51 @@ static void ath9k_init_misc(struct ath_softc *sc)
 		sc->ant_comb.count = ATH_ANT_DIV_COMB_INIT_COUNT;
 }
 
+static void ath9k_eeprom_request_cb(const struct firmware *eeprom_blob,
+				    void *ctx)
+{
+	struct ath9k_eeprom_ctx *ec = ctx;
+
+	if (eeprom_blob)
+		ec->ah->eeprom_blob = eeprom_blob;
+
+	complete(&ec->complete);
+}
+
+static int ath9k_eeprom_request(struct ath_softc *sc, const char *name)
+{
+	struct ath9k_eeprom_ctx ec;
+	struct ath_hw *ah = ah = sc->sc_ah;
+	int err;
+
+	/* try to load the EEPROM content asynchronously */
+	init_completion(&ec.complete);
+	ec.ah = sc->sc_ah;
+
+	err = request_firmware_nowait(THIS_MODULE, 1, name, sc->dev, GFP_KERNEL,
+				      &ec, ath9k_eeprom_request_cb);
+	if (err < 0) {
+		ath_err(ath9k_hw_common(ah),
+			"EEPROM request failed\n");
+		return err;
+	}
+
+	wait_for_completion(&ec.complete);
+
+	if (!ah->eeprom_blob) {
+		ath_err(ath9k_hw_common(ah),
+			"Unable to load EEPROM file %s\n", name);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void ath9k_eeprom_release(struct ath_softc *sc)
+{
+	release_firmware(sc->sc_ah->eeprom_blob);
+}
+
 static int ath9k_init_softc(u16 devid, struct ath_softc *sc,
 			    const struct ath_bus_ops *bus_ops)
 {
@@ -583,6 +633,12 @@ static int ath9k_init_softc(u16 devid, struct ath_softc *sc,
 	ath_read_cachesize(common, &csz);
 	common->cachelsz = csz << 2; /* convert to bytes */
 
+	if (pdata->eeprom_name) {
+		ret = ath9k_eeprom_request(sc, pdata->eeprom_name);
+		if (ret)
+			goto err_eeprom;
+	}
+
 	/* Initializes the hardware for all supported chipsets */
 	ret = ath9k_hw_init(ah);
 	if (ret)
@@ -619,7 +675,8 @@ err_btcoex:
 err_queues:
 	ath9k_hw_deinit(ah);
 err_hw:
-
+	ath9k_eeprom_release(sc);
+err_eeprom:
 	kfree(ah);
 	sc->sc_ah = NULL;
 
@@ -882,6 +939,7 @@ static void ath9k_deinit_softc(struct ath_softc *sc)
 	if (sc->dfs_detector != NULL)
 		sc->dfs_detector->exit(sc->dfs_detector);
 
+	ath9k_eeprom_release(sc);
 	kfree(sc->sc_ah);
 	sc->sc_ah = NULL;
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/ath9k_platform.h b/include/linux/ath9k_platform.h
index 6e3f54f37844..fcdd81bd5314 100644
--- a/include/linux/ath9k_platform.h
+++ b/include/linux/ath9k_platform.h
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 #define ATH9K_PLAT_EEP_MAX_WORDS	2048
 
 struct ath9k_platform_data {
+	const char *eeprom_name;
+
 	u16 eeprom_data[ATH9K_PLAT_EEP_MAX_WORDS];
 	u8 *macaddr;