diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index a1b870d188c4..6fa167758f82 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ my %ignore_type = ();
 my @ignore = ();
 my $help = 0;
 my $configuration_file = ".checkpatch.conf";
+my $max_line_length = 80;
 
 sub help {
 	my ($exitcode) = @_;
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ Options:
   -f, --file                 treat FILE as regular source file
   --subjective, --strict     enable more subjective tests
   --ignore TYPE(,TYPE2...)   ignore various comma separated message types
+  --max-line-length=n        set the maximum line length, if exceeded, warn
   --show-types               show the message "types" in the output
   --root=PATH                PATH to the kernel tree root
   --no-summary               suppress the per-file summary
@@ -107,6 +109,7 @@ GetOptions(
 	'strict!'	=> \$check,
 	'ignore=s'	=> \@ignore,
 	'show-types!'	=> \$show_types,
+	'max-line-length=i' => \$max_line_length,
 	'root=s'	=> \$root,
 	'summary!'	=> \$summary,
 	'mailback!'	=> \$mailback,
@@ -1760,15 +1763,15 @@ sub process {
 # check we are in a valid source file if not then ignore this hunk
 		next if ($realfile !~ /\.(h|c|s|S|pl|sh)$/);
 
-#80 column limit
+#line length limit
 		if ($line =~ /^\+/ && $prevrawline !~ /\/\*\*/ &&
 		    $rawline !~ /^.\s*\*\s*\@$Ident\s/ &&
 		    !($line =~ /^\+\s*$logFunctions\s*\(\s*(?:(KERN_\S+\s*|[^"]*))?"[X\t]*"\s*(?:|,|\)\s*;)\s*$/ ||
 		    $line =~ /^\+\s*"[^"]*"\s*(?:\s*|,|\)\s*;)\s*$/) &&
-		    $length > 80)
+		    $length > $max_line_length)
 		{
 			WARN("LONG_LINE",
-			     "line over 80 characters\n" . $herecurr);
+			     "line over $max_line_length characters\n" . $herecurr);
 		}
 
 # Check for user-visible strings broken across lines, which breaks the ability