diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
index ebf6647a2bd4..6b3a0c15144f 100644
--- a/kernel/cpu.c
+++ b/kernel/cpu.c
@@ -265,6 +265,15 @@ static int __cpuinit _cpu_up(unsigned int cpu, int tasks_frozen)
 int __cpuinit cpu_up(unsigned int cpu)
 {
 	int err = 0;
+	if (!cpu_isset(cpu, cpu_possible_map)) {
+		printk(KERN_ERR "can't online cpu %d because it is not "
+			"configured as may-hotadd at boot time\n", cpu);
+#if defined(CONFIG_IA64) || defined(CONFIG_X86_64) || defined(CONFIG_S390)
+		printk(KERN_ERR "please check additional_cpus= boot "
+				"parameter\n");
+#endif
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	mutex_lock(&cpu_add_remove_lock);
 	if (cpu_hotplug_disabled)