diff --git a/init/initramfs.c b/init/initramfs.c
index 5ea7f1b5ec44..33fdbdc19ad7 100644
--- a/init/initramfs.c
+++ b/init/initramfs.c
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ static int __init populate_rootfs(void)
 		printk(KERN_INFO "rootfs image is not initramfs (%s)"
 				"; looks like an initrd\n", err);
 		fd = sys_open("/initrd.image",
-			      O_WRONLY|O_CREAT, 0700);
+			      O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_LARGEFILE, 0700);
 		if (fd >= 0) {
 			ssize_t written = xwrite(fd, (char *)initrd_start,
 						initrd_end - initrd_start);