diff --git a/fs/cifs/connect.c b/fs/cifs/connect.c
index 8d72acbd5c13..acd1e3c887e1 100644
--- a/fs/cifs/connect.c
+++ b/fs/cifs/connect.c
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ struct smb_vol {
 	bool fsc:1;	/* enable fscache */
 	bool mfsymlinks:1; /* use Minshall+French Symlinks */
 	bool multiuser:1;
+	bool use_smb2:1; /* force smb2 use on mount instead of cifs */
 	unsigned int rsize;
 	unsigned int wsize;
 	bool sockopt_tcp_nodelay:1;
@@ -1038,6 +1039,22 @@ cifs_parse_mount_options(char *options, const char *devname,
 				cERROR(1, "bad security option: %s", value);
 				return 1;
 			}
+		} else if (strnicmp(data, "vers", 3) == 0) {
+			if (!value || !*value) {
+				cERROR(1, "no protocol version specified"
+					  " after vers= mount option");
+			} else if ((strnicmp(value, "cifs", 4) == 0) ||
+				   (strnicmp(value, "1", 1) == 0)) {
+				/* this is the default */
+				continue;
+			} else if ((strnicmp(value, "smb2", 4) == 0) ||
+				   (strnicmp(value, "2", 1) == 0)) {
+#ifdef CONFIG_CIFS_SMB2
+				vol->use_smb2 = true;
+#else
+				cERROR(1, "smb2 support not enabled");
+#endif /* CONFIG_CIFS_SMB2 */
+			}
 		} else if ((strnicmp(data, "unc", 3) == 0)
 			   || (strnicmp(data, "target", 6) == 0)
 			   || (strnicmp(data, "path", 4) == 0)) {