diff --git a/arch/arm/plat-s3c/Kconfig b/arch/arm/plat-s3c/Kconfig
index 31656c33e05e..10c1dd3cd463 100644
--- a/arch/arm/plat-s3c/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/arm/plat-s3c/Kconfig
@@ -57,6 +57,14 @@ config S3C_BOOT_ERROR_RESET
 	  Say y here to use the watchdog to reset the system if the
 	  kernel decompressor detects an error during decompression.
 
+config S3C_BOOT_UART_FORCE_FIFO
+       bool "Force UART FIFO on during boot process"
+       depends on PLAT_S3C
+       default y
+       help
+         Say Y here to force the UART FIFOs on during the kernel
+	 uncompressor
+
 comment "Power management"
 
 config S3C2410_PM_DEBUG
diff --git a/arch/arm/plat-s3c/include/plat/uncompress.h b/arch/arm/plat-s3c/include/plat/uncompress.h
index 8a8a927292e0..2c39a309aeb0 100644
--- a/arch/arm/plat-s3c/include/plat/uncompress.h
+++ b/arch/arm/plat-s3c/include/plat/uncompress.h
@@ -139,6 +139,28 @@ static void arch_decomp_error(const char *x)
 
 static void error(char *err);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_S3C_BOOT_UART_FORCE_FIFO
+static inline void arch_enable_uart_fifo(void)
+{
+	u32 fifocon = uart_rd(S3C2410_UFCON);
+
+	if (!(fifocon & S3C2410_UFCON_FIFOMODE)) {
+		fifocon |= S3C2410_UFCON_RESETBOTH;
+		uart_wr(S3C2410_UFCON, fifocon);
+
+		/* wait for fifo reset to complete */
+		while (1) {
+			fifocon = uart_rd(S3C2410_UFCON);
+			if (!(fifocon & S3C2410_UFCON_RESETBOTH))
+				break;
+		}
+	}
+}
+#else
+#define arch_enable_uart_fifo() do { } while(0)
+#endif
+
+
 static void
 arch_decomp_setup(void)
 {
@@ -149,6 +171,12 @@ arch_decomp_setup(void)
 
 	arch_detect_cpu();
 	arch_decomp_wdog_start();
+
+	/* Enable the UART FIFOs if they where not enabled and our
+	 * configuration says we should turn them on.
+	 */
+
+	arch_enable_uart_fifo();
 }