diff --git a/common/spl/spl.c b/common/spl/spl.c
index 63c48fb..835c53d 100644
--- a/common/spl/spl.c
+++ b/common/spl/spl.c
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@
 binman_sym_declare(ulong, spl, size);
 #endif
 
-/* Define board data structure */
-static struct bd_info bdata __attribute__ ((section(".data")));
-
 /*
  * Board-specific Platform code can reimplement show_boot_progress () if needed
  */
@@ -443,14 +440,19 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
-void spl_set_bd(void)
+int spl_alloc_bd(void)
 {
 	/*
 	 * NOTE: On some platforms (e.g. x86) bdata may be in flash and not
 	 * writeable.
 	 */
-	if (!gd->bd)
-		gd->bd = &bdata;
+	if (!gd->bd) {
+		gd->bd = malloc(sizeof(*gd->bd));
+		if (!gd->bd)
+			return -ENOMEM;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 int spl_early_init(void)
@@ -600,8 +602,6 @@
 
 	debug(">>" SPL_TPL_PROMPT "board_init_r()\n");
 
-	spl_set_bd();
-
 #if defined(CONFIG_SYS_SPL_MALLOC_START)
 	mem_malloc_init(CONFIG_SYS_SPL_MALLOC_START,
 			CONFIG_SYS_SPL_MALLOC_SIZE);
@@ -611,6 +611,10 @@
 		if (spl_init())
 			hang();
 	}
+	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SPL_ALLOC_BD) && spl_alloc_bd()) {
+		puts("Cannot alloc bd\n");
+		hang();
+	}
 #if !defined(CONFIG_PPC) && !defined(CONFIG_ARCH_MX6)
 	/*
 	 * timer_init() does not exist on PPC systems. The timer is initialized