diff --git a/drivers/block/brd.c b/drivers/block/brd.c
index e8e38faeafd8..a196ef7f147f 100644
--- a/drivers/block/brd.c
+++ b/drivers/block/brd.c
@@ -387,10 +387,14 @@ static struct block_device_operations brd_fops = {
  */
 static int rd_nr;
 int rd_size = CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_SIZE;
+static int max_part;
+static int part_shift;
 module_param(rd_nr, int, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(rd_nr, "Maximum number of brd devices");
 module_param(rd_size, int, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(rd_size, "Size of each RAM disk in kbytes.");
+module_param(max_part, int, 0);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(max_part, "Maximum number of partitions per RAM disk");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
 MODULE_ALIAS_BLOCKDEV_MAJOR(RAMDISK_MAJOR);
 
@@ -435,11 +439,11 @@ static struct brd_device *brd_alloc(int i)
 	blk_queue_max_sectors(brd->brd_queue, 1024);
 	blk_queue_bounce_limit(brd->brd_queue, BLK_BOUNCE_ANY);
 
-	disk = brd->brd_disk = alloc_disk(1);
+	disk = brd->brd_disk = alloc_disk(1 << part_shift);
 	if (!disk)
 		goto out_free_queue;
 	disk->major		= RAMDISK_MAJOR;
-	disk->first_minor	= i;
+	disk->first_minor	= i << part_shift;
 	disk->fops		= &brd_fops;
 	disk->private_data	= brd;
 	disk->queue		= brd->brd_queue;
@@ -523,7 +527,12 @@ static int __init brd_init(void)
 	 *     themselves and have kernel automatically instantiate actual
 	 *     device on-demand.
 	 */
-	if (rd_nr > 1UL << MINORBITS)
+
+	part_shift = 0;
+	if (max_part > 0)
+		part_shift = fls(max_part);
+
+	if (rd_nr > 1UL << (MINORBITS - part_shift))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	if (rd_nr) {
@@ -531,7 +540,7 @@ static int __init brd_init(void)
 		range = rd_nr;
 	} else {
 		nr = CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_COUNT;
-		range = 1UL << MINORBITS;
+		range = 1UL << (MINORBITS - part_shift);
 	}
 
 	if (register_blkdev(RAMDISK_MAJOR, "ramdisk"))
@@ -570,7 +579,7 @@ static void __exit brd_exit(void)
 	unsigned long range;
 	struct brd_device *brd, *next;
 
-	range = rd_nr ? rd_nr :  1UL << MINORBITS;
+	range = rd_nr ? rd_nr :  1UL << (MINORBITS - part_shift);
 
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(brd, next, &brd_devices, brd_list)
 		brd_del_one(brd);