diff --git a/arch/powerpc/sysdev/axonram.c b/arch/powerpc/sysdev/axonram.c
index 1b307c80b401..cdbb0e59b3d3 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/sysdev/axonram.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/sysdev/axonram.c
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ __axon_ram_direct_access(struct axon_ram_bank *bank, pgoff_t pgoff, long nr_page
 	resource_size_t offset = pgoff * PAGE_SIZE;
 
 	*kaddr = (void *) bank->io_addr + offset;
-	*pfn = phys_to_pfn_t(bank->ph_addr + offset, PFN_DEV);
+	*pfn = phys_to_pfn_t(bank->ph_addr + offset, PFN_DEV|PFN_SPECIAL);
 	return (bank->size - offset) / PAGE_SIZE;
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/s390/block/dcssblk.c b/drivers/s390/block/dcssblk.c
index 6aaefb780436..9cae08b36b80 100644
--- a/drivers/s390/block/dcssblk.c
+++ b/drivers/s390/block/dcssblk.c
@@ -916,7 +916,8 @@ __dcssblk_direct_access(struct dcssblk_dev_info *dev_info, pgoff_t pgoff,
 
 	dev_sz = dev_info->end - dev_info->start + 1;
 	*kaddr = (void *) dev_info->start + offset;
-	*pfn = __pfn_to_pfn_t(PFN_DOWN(dev_info->start + offset), PFN_DEV);
+	*pfn = __pfn_to_pfn_t(PFN_DOWN(dev_info->start + offset),
+			PFN_DEV|PFN_SPECIAL);
 
 	return (dev_sz - offset) / PAGE_SIZE;
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/pfn_t.h b/include/linux/pfn_t.h
index 43b1d7648e82..a03c2642a87c 100644
--- a/include/linux/pfn_t.h
+++ b/include/linux/pfn_t.h
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@
 #define PFN_SG_LAST (1ULL << (BITS_PER_LONG_LONG - 2))
 #define PFN_DEV (1ULL << (BITS_PER_LONG_LONG - 3))
 #define PFN_MAP (1ULL << (BITS_PER_LONG_LONG - 4))
+#define PFN_SPECIAL (1ULL << (BITS_PER_LONG_LONG - 5))
 
 #define PFN_FLAGS_TRACE \
+	{ PFN_SPECIAL,	"SPECIAL" }, \
 	{ PFN_SG_CHAIN,	"SG_CHAIN" }, \
 	{ PFN_SG_LAST,	"SG_LAST" }, \
 	{ PFN_DEV,	"DEV" }, \
@@ -120,4 +122,15 @@ pud_t pud_mkdevmap(pud_t pud);
 #endif
 #endif /* __HAVE_ARCH_PTE_DEVMAP */
 
+#ifdef __HAVE_ARCH_PTE_SPECIAL
+static inline bool pfn_t_special(pfn_t pfn)
+{
+	return (pfn.val & PFN_SPECIAL) == PFN_SPECIAL;
+}
+#else
+static inline bool pfn_t_special(pfn_t pfn)
+{
+	return false;
+}
+#endif /* __HAVE_ARCH_PTE_SPECIAL */
 #endif /* _LINUX_PFN_T_H_ */
diff --git a/mm/memory.c b/mm/memory.c
index ca5674cbaff2..46b6c33b7f04 100644
--- a/mm/memory.c
+++ b/mm/memory.c
@@ -1897,12 +1897,26 @@ int vm_insert_pfn_prot(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long addr,
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(vm_insert_pfn_prot);
 
+static bool vm_mixed_ok(struct vm_area_struct *vma, pfn_t pfn)
+{
+	/* these checks mirror the abort conditions in vm_normal_page */
+	if (vma->vm_flags & VM_MIXEDMAP)
+		return true;
+	if (pfn_t_devmap(pfn))
+		return true;
+	if (pfn_t_special(pfn))
+		return true;
+	if (is_zero_pfn(pfn_t_to_pfn(pfn)))
+		return true;
+	return false;
+}
+
 static int __vm_insert_mixed(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long addr,
 			pfn_t pfn, bool mkwrite)
 {
 	pgprot_t pgprot = vma->vm_page_prot;
 
-	BUG_ON(!(vma->vm_flags & VM_MIXEDMAP));
+	BUG_ON(!vm_mixed_ok(vma, pfn));
 
 	if (addr < vma->vm_start || addr >= vma->vm_end)
 		return -EFAULT;