diff --git a/arch/xtensa/kernel/smp.c b/arch/xtensa/kernel/smp.c
index 0e34c1ed4aa8f..54bb8e0473a06 100644
--- a/arch/xtensa/kernel/smp.c
+++ b/arch/xtensa/kernel/smp.c
@@ -93,6 +93,11 @@ void __init smp_init_cpus(void)
 	pr_info("%s: Core Count = %d\n", __func__, ncpus);
 	pr_info("%s: Core Id = %d\n", __func__, core_id);
 
+	if (ncpus > NR_CPUS) {
+		ncpus = NR_CPUS;
+		pr_info("%s: limiting core count by %d\n", __func__, ncpus);
+	}
+
 	for (i = 0; i < ncpus; ++i)
 		set_cpu_possible(i, true);
 }