diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/bugs_64.c b/arch/x86/kernel/bugs_64.c
index 60207e999a04..9a3ed0649d4e 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/bugs_64.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/bugs_64.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <asm/bugs.h>
 #include <asm/processor.h>
 #include <asm/mtrr.h>
+#include <asm/cacheflush.h>
 
 void __init check_bugs(void)
 {
@@ -18,4 +19,15 @@ void __init check_bugs(void)
 	print_cpu_info(&boot_cpu_data);
 #endif
 	alternative_instructions();
+
+	/*
+	 * Make sure the first 2MB area is not mapped by huge pages
+	 * There are typically fixed size MTRRs in there and overlapping
+	 * MTRRs into large pages causes slow downs.
+	 *
+	 * Right now we don't do that with gbpages because there seems
+	 * very little benefit for that case.
+	 */
+	if (!direct_gbpages)
+		set_memory_4k((unsigned long)__va(0), 1);
 }
diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c b/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c
index fc3ace2e88f1..1500dc8d63e4 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c
@@ -181,8 +181,13 @@ static void __init kernel_physical_mapping_init(pgd_t *pgd_base)
 			/*
 			 * Map with big pages if possible, otherwise
 			 * create normal page tables:
+			 *
+			 * Don't use a large page for the first 2/4MB of memory
+			 * because there are often fixed size MTRRs in there
+			 * and overlapping MTRRs into large pages can cause
+			 * slowdowns.
 			 */
-			if (cpu_has_pse) {
+			if (cpu_has_pse && !(pgd_idx == 0 && pmd_idx == 0)) {
 				unsigned int addr2;
 				pgprot_t prot = PAGE_KERNEL_LARGE;