diff --git a/src/sim/System.py b/src/sim/System.py
index b8f15c209..630cd2a84 100644
--- a/src/sim/System.py
+++ b/src/sim/System.py
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ class System(MemObject):
     init_param = Param.UInt64(0, "numerical value to pass into simulator")
     boot_osflags = Param.String("a", "boot flags to pass to the kernel")
     kernel = Param.String("", "file that contains the kernel code")
+    kernel_addr_check = Param.Bool(True,
+        "whether to address check on kernel (disable for baremetal)")
     readfile = Param.String("", "file to read startup script from")
     symbolfile = Param.String("", "file to get the symbols from")
     load_addr_mask = Param.UInt64(0xffffffffff,
diff --git a/src/sim/system.cc b/src/sim/system.cc
index 88d2a1625..9cd79cac0 100644
--- a/src/sim/system.cc
+++ b/src/sim/system.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2011-2013 ARM Limited
+ * Copyright (c) 2011-2014 ARM Limited
  * All rights reserved
  *
  * The license below extends only to copyright in the software and shall
@@ -274,13 +274,19 @@ System::initState()
          * Load the kernel code into memory
          */
         if (params()->kernel != "")  {
-            // Validate kernel mapping before loading binary
-            if (!(isMemAddr((kernelStart & loadAddrMask) + loadAddrOffset) &&
-                     isMemAddr((kernelEnd & loadAddrMask) + loadAddrOffset))) {
-                fatal("Kernel is mapped to invalid location (not memory). "
-                      "kernelStart 0x(%x) - kernelEnd 0x(%x) %#x:%#x\n", kernelStart,
-                      kernelEnd, (kernelStart & loadAddrMask) + loadAddrOffset,
-                      (kernelEnd & loadAddrMask) + loadAddrOffset);
+            if (params()->kernel_addr_check) {
+                // Validate kernel mapping before loading binary
+                if (!(isMemAddr((kernelStart & loadAddrMask) +
+                                loadAddrOffset) &&
+                      isMemAddr((kernelEnd & loadAddrMask) +
+                                loadAddrOffset))) {
+                    fatal("Kernel is mapped to invalid location (not memory). "
+                          "kernelStart 0x(%x) - kernelEnd 0x(%x) %#x:%#x\n",
+                          kernelStart,
+                          kernelEnd, (kernelStart & loadAddrMask) +
+                          loadAddrOffset,
+                          (kernelEnd & loadAddrMask) + loadAddrOffset);
+                }
             }
             // Load program sections into memory
             kernel->loadSections(physProxy, loadAddrMask, loadAddrOffset);