diff --git a/mm/bootmem.c b/mm/bootmem.c
index 8d9f60e..9f4bbc5 100644
--- a/mm/bootmem.c
+++ b/mm/bootmem.c
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
 	bootmem_data_t *bdata = pgdat->bdata;
 	unsigned long mapsize;
 
+	mminit_validate_memmodel_limits(&start, &end);
 	bdata->node_bootmem_map = phys_to_virt(PFN_PHYS(mapstart));
 	bdata->node_boot_start = PFN_PHYS(start);
 	bdata->node_low_pfn = end;
diff --git a/mm/internal.h b/mm/internal.h
index 7a4a288..5d17f3e 100644
--- a/mm/internal.h
+++ b/mm/internal.h
@@ -98,4 +98,16 @@
 {
 }
 #endif /* CONFIG_DEBUG_MEMORY_INIT */
+
+/* mminit_validate_memmodel_limits is independent of CONFIG_DEBUG_MEMORY_INIT */
+#if defined(CONFIG_SPARSEMEM)
+extern void mminit_validate_memmodel_limits(unsigned long *start_pfn,
+				unsigned long *end_pfn);
+#else
+static inline void mminit_validate_memmodel_limits(unsigned long *start_pfn,
+				unsigned long *end_pfn)
+{
+}
+#endif /* CONFIG_SPARSEMEM */
+
 #endif
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index acab6ad..0adb66e 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -3536,6 +3536,8 @@
 			nid, start_pfn, end_pfn,
 			nr_nodemap_entries, MAX_ACTIVE_REGIONS);
 
+	mminit_validate_memmodel_limits(&start_pfn, &end_pfn);
+
 	/* Merge with existing active regions if possible */
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_nodemap_entries; i++) {
 		if (early_node_map[i].nid != nid)
diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
index 36511c7..7a36509 100644
--- a/mm/sparse.c
+++ b/mm/sparse.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <asm/dma.h>
 #include <asm/pgalloc.h>
 #include <asm/pgtable.h>
+#include "internal.h"
 
 /*
  * Permanent SPARSEMEM data:
@@ -147,22 +148,41 @@
 	return (section->section_mem_map >> SECTION_NID_SHIFT);
 }
 
-/* Record a memory area against a node. */
-void __init memory_present(int nid, unsigned long start, unsigned long end)
+/* Validate the physical addressing limitations of the model */
+void __meminit mminit_validate_memmodel_limits(unsigned long *start_pfn,
+						unsigned long *end_pfn)
 {
-	unsigned long max_arch_pfn = 1UL << (MAX_PHYSMEM_BITS-PAGE_SHIFT);
-	unsigned long pfn;
+	unsigned long max_sparsemem_pfn = 1UL << (MAX_PHYSMEM_BITS-PAGE_SHIFT);
 
 	/*
 	 * Sanity checks - do not allow an architecture to pass
 	 * in larger pfns than the maximum scope of sparsemem:
 	 */
-	if (start >= max_arch_pfn)
-		return;
-	if (end >= max_arch_pfn)
-		end = max_arch_pfn;
+	if (*start_pfn > max_sparsemem_pfn) {
+		mminit_dprintk(MMINIT_WARNING, "pfnvalidation",
+			"Start of range %lu -> %lu exceeds SPARSEMEM max %lu\n",
+			*start_pfn, *end_pfn, max_sparsemem_pfn);
+		WARN_ON_ONCE(1);
+		*start_pfn = max_sparsemem_pfn;
+		*end_pfn = max_sparsemem_pfn;
+	}
+
+	if (*end_pfn > max_sparsemem_pfn) {
+		mminit_dprintk(MMINIT_WARNING, "pfnvalidation",
+			"End of range %lu -> %lu exceeds SPARSEMEM max %lu\n",
+			*start_pfn, *end_pfn, max_sparsemem_pfn);
+		WARN_ON_ONCE(1);
+		*end_pfn = max_sparsemem_pfn;
+	}
+}
+
+/* Record a memory area against a node. */
+void __init memory_present(int nid, unsigned long start, unsigned long end)
+{
+	unsigned long pfn;
 
 	start &= PAGE_SECTION_MASK;
+	mminit_validate_memmodel_limits(&start, &end);
 	for (pfn = start; pfn < end; pfn += PAGES_PER_SECTION) {
 		unsigned long section = pfn_to_section_nr(pfn);
 		struct mem_section *ms;
@@ -187,6 +207,7 @@
 	unsigned long pfn;
 	unsigned long nr_pages = 0;
 
+	mminit_validate_memmodel_limits(&start_pfn, &end_pfn);
 	for (pfn = start_pfn; pfn < end_pfn; pfn += PAGES_PER_SECTION) {
 		if (nid != early_pfn_to_nid(pfn))
 			continue;