diff --git a/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/start.S b/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/start.S
index e70bed4..da45d98 100644
--- a/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/start.S
+++ b/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/start.S
@@ -54,8 +54,10 @@
 	orr	x0, x0, #0xf			/* SCR_EL3.NS|IRQ|FIQ|EA */
 	msr	scr_el3, x0
 	msr	cptr_el3, xzr			/* Enable FP/SIMD */
+#ifdef COUNTER_FREQUENCY
 	ldr	x0, =COUNTER_FREQUENCY
 	msr	cntfrq_el0, x0			/* Initialize CNTFRQ */
+#endif
 	b	0f
 2:	msr	vbar_el2, x0
 	mov	x0, #0x33ff