diff --git a/hw/arm/boot.c b/hw/arm/boot.c
index bb37a9383f..5ddba727d4 100644
--- a/hw/arm/boot.c
+++ b/hw/arm/boot.c
@@ -1056,11 +1056,25 @@ static void arm_setup_direct_kernel_boot(ARMCPU *cpu,
         error_report("could not load kernel '%s'", info->kernel_filename);
         exit(1);
     }
+
+    if (kernel_size > info->ram_size) {
+        error_report("kernel '%s' is too large to fit in RAM "
+                     "(kernel size %d, RAM size %" PRId64 ")",
+                     info->kernel_filename, kernel_size, info->ram_size);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
     info->entry = entry;
     if (is_linux) {
         uint32_t fixupcontext[FIXUP_MAX];
 
         if (info->initrd_filename) {
+
+            if (info->initrd_start >= ram_end) {
+                error_report("not enough space after kernel to load initrd");
+                exit(1);
+            }
+
             initrd_size = load_ramdisk_as(info->initrd_filename,
                                           info->initrd_start,
                                           ram_end - info->initrd_start, as);
@@ -1076,6 +1090,11 @@ static void arm_setup_direct_kernel_boot(ARMCPU *cpu,
                              info->initrd_filename);
                 exit(1);
             }
+            if (info->initrd_start + initrd_size > info->ram_size) {
+                error_report("could not load initrd '%s': "
+                             "too big to fit into RAM after the kernel",
+                             info->initrd_filename);
+            }
         } else {
             initrd_size = 0;
         }
@@ -1111,6 +1130,10 @@ static void arm_setup_direct_kernel_boot(ARMCPU *cpu,
             /* Place the DTB after the initrd in memory with alignment. */
             info->dtb_start = QEMU_ALIGN_UP(info->initrd_start + initrd_size,
                                            align);
+            if (info->dtb_start >= ram_end) {
+                error_report("Not enough space for DTB after kernel/initrd");
+                exit(1);
+            }
             fixupcontext[FIXUP_ARGPTR_LO] = info->dtb_start;
             fixupcontext[FIXUP_ARGPTR_HI] = info->dtb_start >> 32;
         } else {