diff --git a/arch/um/Makefile-i386 b/arch/um/Makefile-i386
index 7a0e04e34bf9..b65ca115ef77 100644
--- a/arch/um/Makefile-i386
+++ b/arch/um/Makefile-i386
@@ -33,5 +33,9 @@ include $(srctree)/arch/i386/Makefile.cpu
 # prevent gcc from keeping the stack 16 byte aligned. Taken from i386.
 cflags-y += $(call cc-option,-mpreferred-stack-boundary=2)
 
+# Prevent sprintf in nfsd from being converted to strcpy and resulting in
+# an unresolved reference.
+cflags-y += -ffreestanding
+
 CFLAGS += $(cflags-y)
 USER_CFLAGS += $(cflags-y)