diff --git a/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/fsl-layerscape/spl.c b/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/fsl-layerscape/spl.c
index 77724336d6..215ed9759e 100644
--- a/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/fsl-layerscape/spl.c
+++ b/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/fsl-layerscape/spl.c
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ u32 spl_boot_device(void)
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SPL_BUILD
 
+/* Define board data structure */
+static struct bd_info bdata __attribute__ ((section(".data")));
+
 void spl_board_init(void)
 {
 #if defined(CONFIG_NXP_ESBC) && defined(CONFIG_FSL_LSCH2)
@@ -74,7 +77,7 @@ void board_init_f(ulong dummy)
 	get_clocks();
 
 	preloader_console_init();
-	spl_set_bd();
+	gd->bd = &bdata;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SYS_I2C
 #ifdef CONFIG_SPL_I2C_SUPPORT
diff --git a/common/spl/Kconfig b/common/spl/Kconfig
index 6d980be0b7..6b0186763b 100644
--- a/common/spl/Kconfig
+++ b/common/spl/Kconfig
@@ -113,6 +113,15 @@ config SPL_FSL_PBL
 	  Create boot binary having SPL binary in PBI format concatenated with
 	  u-boot binary.
 
+config SPL_ALLOC_BD
+	bool "Allocate memory for bd_info"
+	default y if X86 || SANDBOX
+	help
+	  Some boards don't allocate space for this in their board_init_f()
+	  code. In this case U-Boot can allocate space for gd->bd in the
+	  standard SPL flow (board_init_r()). Enable this option to support
+	  this feature.
+
 endmenu
 
 config HANDOFF
diff --git a/common/spl/spl.c b/common/spl/spl.c
index 63c48fbf33..835c53deaa 100644
--- a/common/spl/spl.c
+++ b/common/spl/spl.c
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@ binman_sym_declare(ulong, spl, image_pos);
 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 @@ static int spl_common_init(bool setup_malloc)
 	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 @@ void board_init_r(gd_t *dummy1, ulong dummy2)
 
 	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 @@ void board_init_r(gd_t *dummy1, ulong dummy2)
 		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
diff --git a/include/spl.h b/include/spl.h
index 374a295fa3..a7648787b7 100644
--- a/include/spl.h
+++ b/include/spl.h
@@ -285,7 +285,15 @@ u32 spl_mmc_boot_mode(const u32 boot_device);
  * If not overridden, it is weakly defined in common/spl/spl_mmc.c.
  */
 int spl_mmc_boot_partition(const u32 boot_device);
-void spl_set_bd(void);
+
+/**
+ * spl_alloc_bd() - Allocate space for bd_info
+ *
+ * This sets up the gd->bd pointer by allocating memory for it
+ *
+ * @return 0 if OK, -ENOMEM if out of memory
+ */
+int spl_alloc_bd(void);
 
 /**
  * spl_set_header_raw_uboot() - Set up a standard SPL image structure