diff --git a/init/initramfs.c b/init/initramfs.c
index 2531811..3bc1ea3 100644
--- a/init/initramfs.c
+++ b/init/initramfs.c
@@ -575,11 +575,16 @@ static int __init populate_rootfs(void)
 	if (err)
 		panic(err);	/* Failed to decompress INTERNAL initramfs */
 	if (initrd_start) {
+		unsigned len = initrd_end - initrd_start;
 #ifdef CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM
 		int fd;
+
+		if ((len > (100*(1 << 20))) &&
+		    ((nr_free_pages() << (PAGE_SHIFT-10)) < (768*(1 << 20)))
+			panic("here's a nickle, buy a better computer...");
+
 		printk(KERN_INFO "Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...\n");
-		err = unpack_to_rootfs((char *)initrd_start,
-			initrd_end - initrd_start);
+		err = unpack_to_rootfs((char *)initrd_start, len);
 		if (!err) {
 			free_initrd();
 			return 0;
@@ -592,15 +597,13 @@ static int __init populate_rootfs(void)
 		fd = sys_open((const char __user __force *) "/initrd.image",
 			      O_WRONLY|O_CREAT, 0700);
 		if (fd >= 0) {
-			sys_write(fd, (char *)initrd_start,
-					initrd_end - initrd_start);
+			sys_write(fd, (char *)initrd_start, len);
 			sys_close(fd);
 			free_initrd();
 		}
 #else
 		printk(KERN_INFO "Unpacking initramfs...\n");
-		err = unpack_to_rootfs((char *)initrd_start,
-			initrd_end - initrd_start);
+		err = unpack_to_rootfs((char *)initrd_start, len);
 		if (err)
 			printk(KERN_EMERG "Initramfs unpacking failed: %s\n", err);
 		free_initrd();