diff --git a/arch/arm/lib/barebox.lds.S b/arch/arm/lib/barebox.lds.S
index bac1a04..e5aee8c 100644
--- a/arch/arm/lib/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/arm/lib/barebox.lds.S
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
 	}
 #endif
 	_etext = .;			/* End of text and rodata section */
+	_sdata = .;
 
 	. = ALIGN(4);
 	.data : { *(.data*) }
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@
 	__usymtab : { BAREBOX_SYMS }
 	__usymtab_end = .;
 
+	_edata = .;
 	. = ALIGN(4);
 	__bss_start = .;
 	.bss : { *(.bss*) }
diff --git a/arch/blackfin/boards/ipe337/barebox.lds.S b/arch/blackfin/boards/ipe337/barebox.lds.S
index 6a07b43..21a91ee 100644
--- a/arch/blackfin/boards/ipe337/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/blackfin/boards/ipe337/barebox.lds.S
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 	.rodata : { *(.rodata) }
 
 	__etext = .;			/* End of text and rodata section */
+	__sdata = .;
 
 	. = ALIGN(4);
 	.data : { *(.data) }
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@
 	__usymtab : { BAREBOX_SYMS }
 	___usymtab_end = .;
 
+	__edata = .;
 	. = ALIGN(4);
 	___bss_start = .;
 	.bss : { *(.bss) }
diff --git a/arch/mips/lib/barebox.lds.S b/arch/mips/lib/barebox.lds.S
index 0cbf2d7..5b3d45d 100644
--- a/arch/mips/lib/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/mips/lib/barebox.lds.S
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 	.rodata : { *(.rodata*) }
 
 	_etext = .;			/* End of text and rodata section */
+	_sdata = .;
 
 	. = ALIGN(4);
 	.data : { *(.data*) }
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@
 	__usymtab : { BAREBOX_SYMS }
 	__usymtab_end = .;
 
+	_edata = .;
 	. = ALIGN(4);
 	__bss_start = .;
 	.bss : { *(.bss*) }
diff --git a/arch/nios2/cpu/barebox.lds.S b/arch/nios2/cpu/barebox.lds.S
index af7be4d..943c507 100644
--- a/arch/nios2/cpu/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/nios2/cpu/barebox.lds.S
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@
 	 * adjacent to simplify the startup code -- and provide
 	 * the global pointer for gp-relative access.
 	 */
+	_sdata = .;
 	_data = .;
 	.data :
 	{
diff --git a/arch/ppc/boards/freescale-p2020rdb/barebox.lds.S b/arch/ppc/boards/freescale-p2020rdb/barebox.lds.S
index 95033d4..85a864e 100644
--- a/arch/ppc/boards/freescale-p2020rdb/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/ppc/boards/freescale-p2020rdb/barebox.lds.S
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 
   _etext = .;
   PROVIDE (etext = .);
+  _sdata = .;
 
   .rodata    :
   {
diff --git a/arch/ppc/boards/pcm030/barebox.lds.S b/arch/ppc/boards/pcm030/barebox.lds.S
index cc86d82..20ac0d8 100644
--- a/arch/ppc/boards/pcm030/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/ppc/boards/pcm030/barebox.lds.S
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
   . = (. + 0x0FFF) & 0xFFFFF000;
   _etext = .;
   PROVIDE (erotext = .);
+  _sdata = .;
   .reloc   :
   {
     *(.got)
diff --git a/arch/x86/lib/barebox.lds.S b/arch/x86/lib/barebox.lds.S
index 8bd2a7b..05d0f77 100644
--- a/arch/x86/lib/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/x86/lib/barebox.lds.S
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@
 	} > barebox
 	BAREBOX_BARE_INIT_SIZE
 
+	_sdata = .;
 	.data : AT ( LOADADDR(.text) + SIZEOF(.text) ) {
 		*(.data*)
 		. = ALIGN(4);
@@ -191,6 +192,7 @@
 		. = ALIGN(4);
 	} > barebox
 
+	_edata = .;
 	.bss : {
 		__bss_start = .;
 		*(.bss*);
diff --git a/common/memory.c b/common/memory.c
index 7dd1384..81641f0 100644
--- a/common/memory.c
+++ b/common/memory.c
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@
 			(unsigned long)&_stext,
 			(unsigned long)&_etext -
 			(unsigned long)&_stext);
+	request_sdram_region("barebox data",
+			(unsigned long)&_sdata,
+			(unsigned long)&_edata -
+			(unsigned long)&_sdata);
 	request_sdram_region("bss",
 			(unsigned long)&__bss_start,
 			(unsigned long)&__bss_stop -
diff --git a/include/asm-generic/sections.h b/include/asm-generic/sections.h
index 17d5fd1..5492aa4 100644
--- a/include/asm-generic/sections.h
+++ b/include/asm-generic/sections.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 extern char _text[], _stext[], _etext[];
 extern char __bss_start[], __bss_stop[];
+extern char _sdata[], _edata[];
 extern char __bare_init_start[], __bare_init_end[];
 extern char _end[];
 extern void *_barebox_image_size;