diff --git a/init/initramfs.c b/init/initramfs.c
index 8daf7ac6c7e2..9d180273ee8c 100644
--- a/init/initramfs.c
+++ b/init/initramfs.c
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ static int __init populate_rootfs(void)
 	if (err)
 		panic("%s", err); /* Failed to decompress INTERNAL initramfs */
 	/* If available load the bootloader supplied initrd */
-	if (initrd_start) {
+	if (initrd_start && !IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_INITRAMFS_FORCE)) {
 #ifdef CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM
 		int fd;
 		printk(KERN_INFO "Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...\n");
diff --git a/usr/Kconfig b/usr/Kconfig
index 6278f135256d..c0c48507e44e 100644
--- a/usr/Kconfig
+++ b/usr/Kconfig
@@ -21,6 +21,16 @@ config INITRAMFS_SOURCE
 
 	  If you are not sure, leave it blank.
 
+config INITRAMFS_FORCE
+	bool "Ignore the initramfs passed by the bootloader"
+	depends on CMDLINE_EXTEND || CMDLINE_FORCE
+	help
+	  This option causes the kernel to ignore the initramfs image
+	  (or initrd image) passed to it by the bootloader. This is
+	  analogous to CMDLINE_FORCE, which is found on some architectures,
+	  and is useful if you cannot or don't want to change the image
+	  your bootloader passes to the kernel.
+
 config INITRAMFS_ROOT_UID
 	int "User ID to map to 0 (user root)"
 	depends on INITRAMFS_SOURCE!=""