diff --git a/arch/arm/cpu/ixp/start.S b/arch/arm/cpu/ixp/start.S
index 6126400..087f594 100644
--- a/arch/arm/cpu/ixp/start.S
+++ b/arch/arm/cpu/ixp/start.S
@@ -292,12 +292,12 @@
 	mov	sp, r4
 
 	adr	r0, _start
+	cmp	r0, r6
+	beq	clear_bss		/* skip relocation */
 	mov	r1, r6			/* r1 <- scratch for copy_loop */
 	ldr	r2, _TEXT_BASE
 	ldr	r3, _bss_start_ofs
 	add	r2, r0, r3		/* r2 <- source end address	    */
-	cmp	r0, r6
-	beq	clear_bss
 
 copy_loop:
 	ldmia	r0!, {r9-r10}		/* copy from source address [r0]    */