diff --git a/kernel/rcutree.c b/kernel/rcutree.c
index d145796bd61f..e0d98157fbea 100644
--- a/kernel/rcutree.c
+++ b/kernel/rcutree.c
@@ -2938,6 +2938,10 @@ static void __init rcu_init_one(struct rcu_state *rsp,
 
 	BUILD_BUG_ON(MAX_RCU_LVLS > ARRAY_SIZE(buf));  /* Fix buf[] init! */
 
+	/* Silence gcc 4.8 warning about array index out of range. */
+	if (rcu_num_lvls > RCU_NUM_LVLS)
+		panic("rcu_init_one: rcu_num_lvls overflow");
+
 	/* Initialize the level-tracking arrays. */
 
 	for (i = 0; i < rcu_num_lvls; i++)