diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
index 6fa7292947e5..9107b387e91f 100644
--- a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -671,6 +671,7 @@ and is between 256 and 4096 characters. It is defined in the file
 	earlyprintk=	[X86,SH,BLACKFIN]
 			earlyprintk=vga
 			earlyprintk=serial[,ttySn[,baudrate]]
+			earlyprintk=ttySn[,baudrate]
 			earlyprintk=dbgp[debugController#]
 
 			Append ",keep" to not disable it when the real console
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/early_printk.c b/arch/x86/kernel/early_printk.c
index 41fd965c80c6..b9c830c12b4a 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/early_printk.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/early_printk.c
@@ -206,8 +206,11 @@ static int __init setup_early_printk(char *buf)
 
 	while (*buf != '\0') {
 		if (!strncmp(buf, "serial", 6)) {
-			early_serial_init(buf + 6);
+			buf += 6;
+			early_serial_init(buf);
 			early_console_register(&early_serial_console, keep);
+			if (!strncmp(buf, ",ttyS", 5))
+				buf += 5;
 		}
 		if (!strncmp(buf, "ttyS", 4)) {
 			early_serial_init(buf + 4);