diff --git a/hw/core/uboot_image.h b/hw/core/uboot_image.h
index 34c11a70a67..608022de6ec 100644
--- a/hw/core/uboot_image.h
+++ b/hw/core/uboot_image.h
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@
 #define IH_TYPE_SCRIPT		6	/* Script file			*/
 #define IH_TYPE_FILESYSTEM	7	/* Filesystem Image (any type)	*/
 #define IH_TYPE_FLATDT		8	/* Binary Flat Device Tree Blob	*/
+#define IH_TYPE_KERNEL_NOLOAD  14	/* OS Kernel Image (noload)	*/
 
 /*
  * Compression Types
diff --git a/include/hw/loader.h b/include/hw/loader.h
index 0a0ad808ea3..de8a29603b0 100644
--- a/include/hw/loader.h
+++ b/include/hw/loader.h
@@ -175,10 +175,15 @@ void load_elf_hdr(const char *filename, void *hdr, bool *is64, Error **errp);
 int load_aout(const char *filename, hwaddr addr, int max_sz,
               int bswap_needed, hwaddr target_page_size);
 
+#define LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID (-1)
+
 /** load_uimage_as:
  * @filename: Path of uimage file
  * @ep: Populated with program entry point. Ignored if NULL.
- * @loadaddr: Populated with the load address. Ignored if NULL.
+ * @loadaddr: load address if none specified in the image or when loading a
+ *            ramdisk. Populated with the load address. Ignored if NULL or
+ *            LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID (images which do not specify a load
+ *            address will not be loadable).
  * @is_linux: Is set to true if the image loaded is Linux. Ignored if NULL.
  * @translate_fn: optional function to translate load addresses
  * @translate_opaque: opaque data passed to @translate_fn
diff --git a/hw/arm/boot.c b/hw/arm/boot.c
index 94fce128028..c7a67af7a97 100644
--- a/hw/arm/boot.c
+++ b/hw/arm/boot.c
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@
  * Documentation/arm/Booting and Documentation/arm64/booting.txt
  * They have different preferred image load offsets from system RAM base.
  */
-#define KERNEL_ARGS_ADDR 0x100
-#define KERNEL_LOAD_ADDR 0x00010000
+#define KERNEL_ARGS_ADDR   0x100
+#define KERNEL_NOLOAD_ADDR 0x02000000
+#define KERNEL_LOAD_ADDR   0x00010000
 #define KERNEL64_LOAD_ADDR 0x00080000
 
 #define ARM64_TEXT_OFFSET_OFFSET    8
@@ -1082,7 +1083,8 @@ void arm_load_kernel(ARMCPU *cpu, struct arm_boot_info *info)
     }
     entry = elf_entry;
     if (kernel_size < 0) {
-        kernel_size = load_uimage_as(info->kernel_filename, &entry, NULL,
+        uint64_t loadaddr = info->loader_start + KERNEL_NOLOAD_ADDR;
+        kernel_size = load_uimage_as(info->kernel_filename, &entry, &loadaddr,
                                      &is_linux, NULL, NULL, as);
     }
     if (arm_feature(&cpu->env, ARM_FEATURE_AARCH64) && kernel_size < 0) {
diff --git a/hw/core/loader.c b/hw/core/loader.c
index fa41842280a..c7182dfa64b 100644
--- a/hw/core/loader.c
+++ b/hw/core/loader.c
@@ -613,13 +613,26 @@ static int load_uboot_image(const char *filename, hwaddr *ep, hwaddr *loadaddr,
         goto out;
 
     if (hdr->ih_type != image_type) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Wrong image type %d, expected %d\n", hdr->ih_type,
-                image_type);
-        goto out;
+        if (!(image_type == IH_TYPE_KERNEL &&
+            hdr->ih_type == IH_TYPE_KERNEL_NOLOAD)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Wrong image type %d, expected %d\n", hdr->ih_type,
+                    image_type);
+            goto out;
+        }
     }
 
     /* TODO: Implement other image types.  */
     switch (hdr->ih_type) {
+    case IH_TYPE_KERNEL_NOLOAD:
+        if (!loadaddr || *loadaddr == LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "this image format (kernel_noload) cannot be "
+                    "loaded on this machine type");
+            goto out;
+        }
+
+        hdr->ih_load = *loadaddr + sizeof(*hdr);
+        hdr->ih_ep += hdr->ih_load;
+        /* fall through */
     case IH_TYPE_KERNEL:
         address = hdr->ih_load;
         if (translate_fn) {
diff --git a/hw/microblaze/boot.c b/hw/microblaze/boot.c
index 35bfeda7aa7..489ab839b7c 100644
--- a/hw/microblaze/boot.c
+++ b/hw/microblaze/boot.c
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ void microblaze_load_kernel(MicroBlazeCPU *cpu, hwaddr ddr_base,
 
         /* If it wasn't an ELF image, try an u-boot image.  */
         if (kernel_size < 0) {
-            hwaddr uentry, loadaddr;
+            hwaddr uentry, loadaddr = LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID;
 
             kernel_size = load_uimage(kernel_filename, &uentry, &loadaddr, 0,
                                       NULL, NULL);
diff --git a/hw/nios2/boot.c b/hw/nios2/boot.c
index 4bb5b601d3a..ed5cb28e942 100644
--- a/hw/nios2/boot.c
+++ b/hw/nios2/boot.c
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ void nios2_load_kernel(Nios2CPU *cpu, hwaddr ddr_base,
 
         /* If it wasn't an ELF image, try an u-boot image. */
         if (kernel_size < 0) {
-            hwaddr uentry, loadaddr;
+            hwaddr uentry, loadaddr = LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID;
 
             kernel_size = load_uimage(kernel_filename, &uentry, &loadaddr, 0,
                                       NULL, NULL);
diff --git a/hw/ppc/e500.c b/hw/ppc/e500.c
index b20fea0dfce..0581e9e3d4c 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/e500.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/e500.c
@@ -995,6 +995,7 @@ void ppce500_init(MachineState *machine)
          * Hrm. No ELF image? Try a uImage, maybe someone is giving us an
          * ePAPR compliant kernel
          */
+        loadaddr = LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID;
         payload_size = load_uimage(filename, &bios_entry, &loadaddr, NULL,
                                    NULL, NULL);
         if (payload_size < 0) {
diff --git a/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c b/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
index b8aa55d5266..fc061915887 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ static void bamboo_init(MachineState *machine)
     CPUPPCState *env;
     uint64_t elf_entry;
     uint64_t elf_lowaddr;
-    hwaddr loadaddr = 0;
+    hwaddr loadaddr = LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID;
     target_long initrd_size = 0;
     DeviceState *dev;
     int success;
diff --git a/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c b/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c
index 4b051c0950a..84ea592749c 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ static void sam460ex_init(MachineState *machine)
     CPUPPCState *env;
     PPC4xxI2CState *i2c[2];
     hwaddr entry = UBOOT_ENTRY;
-    hwaddr loadaddr = 0;
+    hwaddr loadaddr = LOAD_UIMAGE_LOADADDR_INVALID;
     target_long initrd_size = 0;
     DeviceState *dev;
     SysBusDevice *sbdev;
