diff --git a/include/asm-ia64/topology.h b/include/asm-ia64/topology.h
index d8aae4da3978..412ef8e493a8 100644
--- a/include/asm-ia64/topology.h
+++ b/include/asm-ia64/topology.h
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 #include <asm/smp.h>
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
+
+/* Nodes w/o CPUs are preferred for memory allocations, see build_zonelists */
+#define PENALTY_FOR_NODE_WITH_CPUS 255
+
 /*
  * Returns the number of the node containing CPU 'cpu'
  */