diff --git a/drivers/dma/ioat_dma.c b/drivers/dma/ioat_dma.c
index 1955ee8d6d20..a600fc0f7962 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/ioat_dma.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/ioat_dma.c
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ static int ioat_dma_enumerate_channels(struct ioatdma_device *device)
 	xfercap = (xfercap_scale == 0 ? -1 : (1UL << xfercap_scale));
 
 #ifdef  CONFIG_I7300_IDLE_IOAT_CHANNEL
-	if (i7300_idle_platform_probe(NULL, NULL) == 0) {
+	if (i7300_idle_platform_probe(NULL, NULL, 1) == 0) {
 		device->common.chancnt--;
 	}
 #endif
diff --git a/drivers/idle/i7300_idle.c b/drivers/idle/i7300_idle.c
index bf740394d704..949c97ff57e3 100644
--- a/drivers/idle/i7300_idle.c
+++ b/drivers/idle/i7300_idle.c
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ static int debug;
 module_param_named(debug, debug, uint, 0644);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(debug, "Enable debug printks in this driver");
 
+static int forceload;
+module_param_named(forceload, forceload, uint, 0644);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(debug, "Enable driver testing on unvalidated i5000");
+
 #define dprintk(fmt, arg...) \
 	do { if (debug) printk(KERN_INFO I7300_PRINT fmt, ##arg); } while (0)
 
@@ -552,7 +556,7 @@ static int __init i7300_idle_init(void)
 	cpus_clear(idle_cpumask);
 	total_us = 0;
 
-	if (i7300_idle_platform_probe(&fbd_dev, &ioat_dev))
+	if (i7300_idle_platform_probe(&fbd_dev, &ioat_dev, forceload))
 		return -ENODEV;
 
 	if (i7300_idle_thrt_save())
diff --git a/include/linux/i7300_idle.h b/include/linux/i7300_idle.h
index 05a80c44513c..1587b7dec505 100644
--- a/include/linux/i7300_idle.h
+++ b/include/linux/i7300_idle.h
@@ -16,35 +16,33 @@
 struct fbd_ioat {
 	unsigned int vendor;
 	unsigned int ioat_dev;
+	unsigned int enabled;
 };
 
 /*
  * The i5000 chip-set has the same hooks as the i7300
- * but support is disabled by default because this driver
- * has not been validated on that platform.
+ * but it is not enabled by default and must be manually
+ * manually enabled with "forceload=1" because it is
+ * only lightly validated.
  */
-#define SUPPORT_I5000 0
 
 static const struct fbd_ioat fbd_ioat_list[] = {
-	{PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_IOAT_CNB},
-#if SUPPORT_I5000
-	{PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_IOAT},
-#endif
+	{PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_IOAT_CNB, 1},
+	{PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_IOAT, 0},
 	{0, 0}
 };
 
 /* table of devices that work with this driver */
 static const struct pci_device_id pci_tbl[] = {
 	{ PCI_DEVICE(PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_FBD_CNB) },
-#if SUPPORT_I5000
 	{ PCI_DEVICE(PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_5000_ERR) },
-#endif
 	{ } /* Terminating entry */
 };
 
 /* Check for known platforms with I/O-AT */
 static inline int i7300_idle_platform_probe(struct pci_dev **fbd_dev,
-						struct pci_dev **ioat_dev)
+						struct pci_dev **ioat_dev,
+						int enable_all)
 {
 	int i;
 	struct pci_dev *memdev, *dmadev;
@@ -69,6 +67,8 @@ static inline int i7300_idle_platform_probe(struct pci_dev **fbd_dev,
 	for (i = 0; fbd_ioat_list[i].vendor != 0; i++) {
 		if (dmadev->vendor == fbd_ioat_list[i].vendor &&
 		    dmadev->device == fbd_ioat_list[i].ioat_dev) {
+			if (!(fbd_ioat_list[i].enabled || enable_all))
+				continue;
 			if (fbd_dev)
 				*fbd_dev = memdev;
 			if (ioat_dev)