diff --git a/env/env.c b/env/env.c
index 5c0842ac07..e033b46124 100644
--- a/env/env.c
+++ b/env/env.c
@@ -119,21 +119,12 @@ static void env_set_inited(enum env_location location)
  */
 __weak enum env_location env_get_location(enum env_operation op, int prio)
 {
-	switch (op) {
-	case ENVOP_GET_CHAR:
-	case ENVOP_INIT:
-	case ENVOP_LOAD:
-		if (prio >= ARRAY_SIZE(env_locations))
-			return ENVL_UNKNOWN;
+	if (prio >= ARRAY_SIZE(env_locations))
+		return ENVL_UNKNOWN;
 
-		gd->env_load_location = env_locations[prio];
-		return gd->env_load_location;
+	gd->env_load_prio = prio;
 
-	case ENVOP_SAVE:
-		return gd->env_load_location;
-	}
-
-	return ENVL_UNKNOWN;
+	return env_locations[prio];
 }
 
 
@@ -205,22 +196,29 @@ int env_load(void)
 			return 0;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * In case of invalid environment, we set the 'default' env location
+	 * to the highest priority. In this way, next calls to env_save()
+	 * will restore the environment at the right place.
+	 */
+	env_get_location(ENVOP_LOAD, 0);
+
 	return -ENODEV;
 }
 
 int env_save(void)
 {
 	struct env_driver *drv;
-	int prio;
 
-	for (prio = 0; (drv = env_driver_lookup(ENVOP_SAVE, prio)); prio++) {
+	drv = env_driver_lookup(ENVOP_SAVE, gd->env_load_prio);
+	if (drv) {
 		int ret;
 
 		if (!drv->save)
-			continue;
+			return -ENODEV;
 
 		if (!env_has_inited(drv->location))
-			continue;
+			return -ENODEV;
 
 		printf("Saving Environment to %s... ", drv->name);
 		ret = drv->save();
diff --git a/include/asm-generic/global_data.h b/include/asm-generic/global_data.h
index 0fd4900392..c83fc01b76 100644
--- a/include/asm-generic/global_data.h
+++ b/include/asm-generic/global_data.h
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ typedef struct global_data {
 	unsigned long env_addr;		/* Address  of Environment struct */
 	unsigned long env_valid;	/* Environment valid? enum env_valid */
 	unsigned long env_has_init;	/* Bitmask of boolean of struct env_location offsets */
-	int env_load_location;
+	int env_load_prio;		/* Priority of the loaded environment */
 
 	unsigned long ram_base;		/* Base address of RAM used by U-Boot */
 	unsigned long ram_top;		/* Top address of RAM used by U-Boot */