diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/vmware.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/vmware.c
index a0905ecfe7d2..c034bda842d9 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/vmware.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/vmware.c
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ static unsigned long __vmware_get_tsc_khz(void)
         return tsc_hz;
 }
 
+/*
+ * While checking the dmi string infomation, just checking the product
+ * serial key should be enough, as this will always have a VMware
+ * specific string when running under VMware hypervisor.
+ */
 int vmware_platform(void)
 {
 	if (cpu_has_hypervisor) {
@@ -74,7 +79,7 @@ int vmware_platform(void)
 		hyper_vendor_id[12] = '\0';
 		if (!strcmp(hyper_vendor_id, "VMwareVMware"))
 			return 1;
-	} else if (dmi_available && dmi_name_in_vendors("VMware") &&
+	} else if (dmi_available && dmi_name_in_serial("VMware") &&
 		   __vmware_platform())
 		return 1;
 
diff --git a/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c b/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c
index 3e526b6d00cb..d66d41282907 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c
+++ b/drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c
@@ -467,6 +467,17 @@ const char *dmi_get_system_info(int field)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dmi_get_system_info);
 
+/**
+ *	dmi_name_in_serial - 	Check if string is in the DMI product serial
+ *				information.
+ */
+int dmi_name_in_serial(const char *str)
+{
+	int f = DMI_PRODUCT_SERIAL;
+	if (dmi_ident[f] && strstr(dmi_ident[f], str))
+		return 1;
+	return 0;
+}
 
 /**
  *	dmi_name_in_vendors - Check if string is anywhere in the DMI vendor information.
diff --git a/include/linux/dmi.h b/include/linux/dmi.h
index e5084eb5943a..2bfda178f274 100644
--- a/include/linux/dmi.h
+++ b/include/linux/dmi.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ extern const struct dmi_device * dmi_find_device(int type, const char *name,
 extern void dmi_scan_machine(void);
 extern int dmi_get_year(int field);
 extern int dmi_name_in_vendors(const char *str);
+extern int dmi_name_in_serial(const char *str);
 extern int dmi_available;
 extern int dmi_walk(void (*decode)(const struct dmi_header *));
 
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ static inline const struct dmi_device * dmi_find_device(int type, const char *na
 static inline void dmi_scan_machine(void) { return; }
 static inline int dmi_get_year(int year) { return 0; }
 static inline int dmi_name_in_vendors(const char *s) { return 0; }
+static inline int dmi_name_in_serial(const char *s) { return 0; }
 #define dmi_available 0
 static inline int dmi_walk(void (*decode)(const struct dmi_header *))
 	{ return -1; }