diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/cpu.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/cpu.h
index 9e3ac95acf2d..78796b98a544 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/cpu.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/cpu.h
@@ -96,6 +96,6 @@ static inline bool intel_cpu_signatures_match(unsigned int s1, unsigned int p1,
 
 extern u64 x86_read_arch_cap_msr(void);
 int intel_find_matching_signature(void *mc, unsigned int csig, int cpf);
-int intel_microcode_sanity_check(void *mc, bool print_err);
+int intel_microcode_sanity_check(void *mc, bool print_err, int hdr_type);
 
 #endif /* _ASM_X86_CPU_H */
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/microcode_intel.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/microcode_intel.h
index 4c92cea7e4b5..2a999bf91ef0 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/microcode_intel.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/microcode_intel.h
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ struct extended_sigtable {
 #define DEFAULT_UCODE_TOTALSIZE (DEFAULT_UCODE_DATASIZE + MC_HEADER_SIZE)
 #define EXT_HEADER_SIZE		(sizeof(struct extended_sigtable))
 #define EXT_SIGNATURE_SIZE	(sizeof(struct extended_signature))
+#define MC_HEADER_TYPE_MICROCODE	1
 
 #define get_totalsize(mc) \
 	(((struct microcode_intel *)mc)->hdr.datasize ? \
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/intel.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/intel.c
index bef06a1fafe9..b6997eb6e519 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/intel.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/intel.c
@@ -244,7 +244,21 @@ int intel_find_matching_signature(void *mc, unsigned int csig, int cpf)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(intel_find_matching_signature);
 
-int intel_microcode_sanity_check(void *mc, bool print_err)
+/**
+ * intel_microcode_sanity_check() - Sanity check microcode file.
+ * @mc: Pointer to the microcode file contents.
+ * @print_err: Display failure reason if true, silent if false.
+ * @hdr_type: Type of file, i.e. normal microcode file or In Field Scan file.
+ *            Validate if the microcode header type matches with the type
+ *            specified here.
+ *
+ * Validate certain header fields and verify if computed checksum matches
+ * with the one specified in the header.
+ *
+ * Return: 0 if the file passes all the checks, -EINVAL if any of the checks
+ * fail.
+ */
+int intel_microcode_sanity_check(void *mc, bool print_err, int hdr_type)
 {
 	unsigned long total_size, data_size, ext_table_size;
 	struct microcode_header_intel *mc_header = mc;
@@ -261,9 +275,10 @@ int intel_microcode_sanity_check(void *mc, bool print_err)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	if (mc_header->ldrver != 1 || mc_header->hdrver != 1) {
+	if (mc_header->ldrver != 1 || mc_header->hdrver != hdr_type) {
 		if (print_err)
-			pr_err("Error: invalid/unknown microcode update format.\n");
+			pr_err("Error: invalid/unknown microcode update format. Header type %d\n",
+			       mc_header->hdrver);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c
index fb6ff71a5ff5..c4a00fb97f61 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ scan_microcode(void *data, size_t size, struct ucode_cpu_info *uci, bool save)
 		mc_size = get_totalsize(mc_header);
 		if (!mc_size ||
 		    mc_size > size ||
-		    intel_microcode_sanity_check(data, false) < 0)
+		    intel_microcode_sanity_check(data, false, MC_HEADER_TYPE_MICROCODE) < 0)
 			break;
 
 		size -= mc_size;
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ static enum ucode_state generic_load_microcode(int cpu, struct iov_iter *iter)
 		memcpy(mc, &mc_header, sizeof(mc_header));
 		data = mc + sizeof(mc_header);
 		if (!copy_from_iter_full(data, data_size, iter) ||
-		    intel_microcode_sanity_check(mc, true) < 0) {
+		    intel_microcode_sanity_check(mc, true, MC_HEADER_TYPE_MICROCODE) < 0) {
 			break;
 		}