diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
index 9b9566bf3301..6ce5f48859cc 100644
--- a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -1650,11 +1650,13 @@ and is between 256 and 4096 characters. It is defined in the file
 	oprofile.timer=	[HW]
 			Use timer interrupt instead of performance counters
 
-	oprofile.force_arch_perfmon=1	[X86]
-			Force use of architectural perfmon instead of
-			the CPU specific event set.
-			This might be useful if you have older oprofile
-			userland or if you want common events over Intel CPUs.
+	oprofile.cpu_type=	Force an oprofile cpu type
+			This might be useful if you have an older oprofile
+			userland or if you want common events.
+			Format: { archperfmon }
+			archperfmon: [X86] Force use of architectural
+				perfmon on Intel CPUs instead of the
+				CPU specific event set.
 
 	osst=		[HW,SCSI] SCSI Tape Driver
 			Format: <buffer_size>,<write_threshold>
diff --git a/arch/x86/oprofile/nmi_int.c b/arch/x86/oprofile/nmi_int.c
index 3308147182ae..3b285e656e27 100644
--- a/arch/x86/oprofile/nmi_int.c
+++ b/arch/x86/oprofile/nmi_int.c
@@ -386,8 +386,17 @@ static int __init p4_init(char **cpu_type)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int force_arch_perfmon;
-module_param(force_arch_perfmon, int, 0);
+static int force_arch_perfmon;
+static int force_cpu_type(const char *str, struct kernel_param *kp)
+{
+	if (!strcmp(str, "archperfmon")) {
+		force_arch_perfmon = 1;
+		printk(KERN_INFO "oprofile: forcing architectural perfmon\n");
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+module_param_call(cpu_type, force_cpu_type, NULL, NULL, 0);
 
 static int __init ppro_init(char **cpu_type)
 {