diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
index 9a53c92..0003367 100644
--- a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -3491,6 +3491,10 @@
 
 	ro		[KNL] Mount root device read-only on boot
 
+	rodata=		[KNL]
+		on	Mark read-only kernel memory as read-only (default).
+		off	Leave read-only kernel memory writable for debugging.
+
 	root=		[KNL] Root filesystem
 			See name_to_dev_t comment in init/do_mounts.c.
 
diff --git a/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h b/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h
index d5525bf..9156fc3 100644
--- a/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h
+++ b/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h
@@ -491,7 +491,6 @@
 #endif
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
-void mark_rodata_ro(void);
 void set_kernel_text_rw(void);
 void set_kernel_text_ro(void);
 #else
diff --git a/arch/arm/vdso/vdso.S b/arch/arm/vdso/vdso.S
index b2b97e3..a62a7b6 100644
--- a/arch/arm/vdso/vdso.S
+++ b/arch/arm/vdso/vdso.S
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@
 #include <linux/const.h>
 #include <asm/page.h>
 
-	__PAGE_ALIGNED_DATA
-
 	.globl vdso_start, vdso_end
+	.section .data..ro_after_init
 	.balign PAGE_SIZE
 vdso_start:
 	.incbin "arch/arm/vdso/vdso.so"
diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/cacheflush.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/cacheflush.h
index 7fc294c..22dda61 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/cacheflush.h
+++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/cacheflush.h
@@ -156,8 +156,4 @@
 int set_memory_x(unsigned long addr, int numpages);
 int set_memory_nx(unsigned long addr, int numpages);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
-void mark_rodata_ro(void);
-#endif
-
 #endif
diff --git a/arch/parisc/include/asm/cache.h b/arch/parisc/include/asm/cache.h
index 3d0e17b..df0f52b 100644
--- a/arch/parisc/include/asm/cache.h
+++ b/arch/parisc/include/asm/cache.h
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@
 
 #define __read_mostly __attribute__((__section__(".data..read_mostly")))
 
+/* Read-only memory is marked before mark_rodata_ro() is called. */
+#define __ro_after_init	__read_mostly
+
 void parisc_cache_init(void);	/* initializes cache-flushing */
 void disable_sr_hashing_asm(int); /* low level support for above */
 void disable_sr_hashing(void);   /* turns off space register hashing */
diff --git a/arch/parisc/include/asm/cacheflush.h b/arch/parisc/include/asm/cacheflush.h
index 845272c..7bd69bd 100644
--- a/arch/parisc/include/asm/cacheflush.h
+++ b/arch/parisc/include/asm/cacheflush.h
@@ -121,10 +121,6 @@
 	}
 }
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
-void mark_rodata_ro(void);
-#endif
-
 #include <asm/kmap_types.h>
 
 #define ARCH_HAS_KMAP
diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig b/arch/x86/Kconfig
index c46662f..b105105 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig
@@ -303,6 +303,9 @@
 config FIX_EARLYCON_MEM
 	def_bool y
 
+config DEBUG_RODATA
+	def_bool y
+
 config PGTABLE_LEVELS
 	int
 	default 4 if X86_64
diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig.debug b/arch/x86/Kconfig.debug
index 9b18ed9..7816b7b 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig.debug
@@ -74,28 +74,16 @@
 	  issues with the mapping of the EFI runtime regions into that
 	  table.
 
-config DEBUG_RODATA
-	bool "Write protect kernel read-only data structures"
-	default y
-	depends on DEBUG_KERNEL
-	---help---
-	  Mark the kernel read-only data as write-protected in the pagetables,
-	  in order to catch accidental (and incorrect) writes to such const
-	  data. This is recommended so that we can catch kernel bugs sooner.
-	  If in doubt, say "Y".
-
 config DEBUG_RODATA_TEST
-	bool "Testcase for the DEBUG_RODATA feature"
-	depends on DEBUG_RODATA
+	bool "Testcase for the marking rodata read-only"
 	default y
 	---help---
-	  This option enables a testcase for the DEBUG_RODATA
-	  feature as well as for the change_page_attr() infrastructure.
+	  This option enables a testcase for the setting rodata read-only
+	  as well as for the change_page_attr() infrastructure.
 	  If in doubt, say "N"
 
 config DEBUG_WX
 	bool "Warn on W+X mappings at boot"
-	depends on DEBUG_RODATA
 	select X86_PTDUMP_CORE
 	---help---
 	  Generate a warning if any W+X mappings are found at boot.
diff --git a/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h b/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h
index 0224987..3f69326 100644
--- a/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h
+++ b/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@
 	fprintf(outfile, "#include <asm/vdso.h>\n");
 	fprintf(outfile, "\n");
 	fprintf(outfile,
-		"static unsigned char raw_data[%lu] __page_aligned_data = {",
+		"static unsigned char raw_data[%lu] __ro_after_init __aligned(PAGE_SIZE) = {",
 		mapping_size);
 	for (j = 0; j < stripped_len; j++) {
 		if (j % 10 == 0)
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/cacheflush.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/cacheflush.h
index e63aa38..61518cf 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/cacheflush.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/cacheflush.h
@@ -91,16 +91,10 @@
 
 #define mmio_flush_range(addr, size) clflush_cache_range(addr, size)
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
-void mark_rodata_ro(void);
 extern const int rodata_test_data;
 extern int kernel_set_to_readonly;
 void set_kernel_text_rw(void);
 void set_kernel_text_ro(void);
-#else
-static inline void set_kernel_text_rw(void) { }
-static inline void set_kernel_text_ro(void) { }
-#endif
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA_TEST
 int rodata_test(void);
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_para.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_para.h
index c1adf33..bc62e7c 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_para.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_para.h
@@ -17,15 +17,8 @@
 }
 #endif /* CONFIG_KVM_GUEST */
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 #define KVM_HYPERCALL \
         ALTERNATIVE(".byte 0x0f,0x01,0xc1", ".byte 0x0f,0x01,0xd9", X86_FEATURE_VMMCALL)
-#else
-/* On AMD processors, vmcall will generate a trap that we will
- * then rewrite to the appropriate instruction.
- */
-#define KVM_HYPERCALL ".byte 0x0f,0x01,0xc1"
-#endif
 
 /* For KVM hypercalls, a three-byte sequence of either the vmcall or the vmmcall
  * instruction.  The hypervisor may replace it with something else but only the
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h
index 0a52424..13b6cdd 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 extern char __brk_base[], __brk_limit[];
 extern struct exception_table_entry __stop___ex_table[];
 
-#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64) && defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA)
+#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64)
 extern char __end_rodata_hpage_align[];
 #endif
 
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/ftrace.c b/arch/x86/kernel/ftrace.c
index 29408d6..05c9e3f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/ftrace.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/ftrace.c
@@ -81,9 +81,9 @@
 static unsigned long text_ip_addr(unsigned long ip)
 {
 	/*
-	 * On x86_64, kernel text mappings are mapped read-only with
-	 * CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA. So we use the kernel identity mapping instead
-	 * of the kernel text mapping to modify the kernel text.
+	 * On x86_64, kernel text mappings are mapped read-only, so we use
+	 * the kernel identity mapping instead of the kernel text mapping
+	 * to modify the kernel text.
 	 *
 	 * For 32bit kernels, these mappings are same and we can use
 	 * kernel identity mapping to modify code.
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/kgdb.c b/arch/x86/kernel/kgdb.c
index 44256a6..ed15cd48 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/kgdb.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/kgdb.c
@@ -750,9 +750,7 @@
 int kgdb_arch_set_breakpoint(struct kgdb_bkpt *bpt)
 {
 	int err;
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 	char opc[BREAK_INSTR_SIZE];
-#endif /* CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA */
 
 	bpt->type = BP_BREAKPOINT;
 	err = probe_kernel_read(bpt->saved_instr, (char *)bpt->bpt_addr,
@@ -761,7 +759,6 @@
 		return err;
 	err = probe_kernel_write((char *)bpt->bpt_addr,
 				 arch_kgdb_ops.gdb_bpt_instr, BREAK_INSTR_SIZE);
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 	if (!err)
 		return err;
 	/*
@@ -778,13 +775,12 @@
 	if (memcmp(opc, arch_kgdb_ops.gdb_bpt_instr, BREAK_INSTR_SIZE))
 		return -EINVAL;
 	bpt->type = BP_POKE_BREAKPOINT;
-#endif /* CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA */
+
 	return err;
 }
 
 int kgdb_arch_remove_breakpoint(struct kgdb_bkpt *bpt)
 {
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 	int err;
 	char opc[BREAK_INSTR_SIZE];
 
@@ -801,8 +797,8 @@
 	if (err || memcmp(opc, bpt->saved_instr, BREAK_INSTR_SIZE))
 		goto knl_write;
 	return err;
+
 knl_write:
-#endif /* CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA */
 	return probe_kernel_write((char *)bpt->bpt_addr,
 				  (char *)bpt->saved_instr, BREAK_INSTR_SIZE);
 }
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/test_nx.c b/arch/x86/kernel/test_nx.c
index 3f92ce0..27538f1 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/test_nx.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/test_nx.c
@@ -142,7 +142,6 @@
 	 * by the error message
 	 */
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 	/* Test 3: Check if the .rodata section is executable */
 	if (rodata_test_data != 0xC3) {
 		printk(KERN_ERR "test_nx: .rodata marker has invalid value\n");
@@ -151,7 +150,6 @@
 		printk(KERN_ERR "test_nx: .rodata section is executable\n");
 		ret = -ENODEV;
 	}
-#endif
 
 #if 0
 	/* Test 4: Check if the .data section of a module is executable */
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/test_rodata.c b/arch/x86/kernel/test_rodata.c
index 5ecbfe5..cb4a01b 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/test_rodata.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/test_rodata.c
@@ -76,5 +76,5 @@
 }
 
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
-MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Testcase for the DEBUG_RODATA infrastructure");
+MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Testcase for marking rodata as read-only");
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Arjan van de Ven <arjan@linux.intel.com>");
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S b/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
index 74e4bf1..fe133b7 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
@@ -41,29 +41,28 @@
 jiffies_64 = jiffies;
 #endif
 
-#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64) && defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA)
+#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64)
 /*
- * On 64-bit, align RODATA to 2MB so that even with CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
- * we retain large page mappings for boundaries spanning kernel text, rodata
- * and data sections.
+ * On 64-bit, align RODATA to 2MB so we retain large page mappings for
+ * boundaries spanning kernel text, rodata and data sections.
  *
  * However, kernel identity mappings will have different RWX permissions
  * to the pages mapping to text and to the pages padding (which are freed) the
  * text section. Hence kernel identity mappings will be broken to smaller
  * pages. For 64-bit, kernel text and kernel identity mappings are different,
- * so we can enable protection checks that come with CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA,
- * as well as retain 2MB large page mappings for kernel text.
+ * so we can enable protection checks as well as retain 2MB large page
+ * mappings for kernel text.
  */
-#define X64_ALIGN_DEBUG_RODATA_BEGIN	. = ALIGN(HPAGE_SIZE);
+#define X64_ALIGN_RODATA_BEGIN	. = ALIGN(HPAGE_SIZE);
 
-#define X64_ALIGN_DEBUG_RODATA_END				\
+#define X64_ALIGN_RODATA_END					\
 		. = ALIGN(HPAGE_SIZE);				\
 		__end_rodata_hpage_align = .;
 
 #else
 
-#define X64_ALIGN_DEBUG_RODATA_BEGIN
-#define X64_ALIGN_DEBUG_RODATA_END
+#define X64_ALIGN_RODATA_BEGIN
+#define X64_ALIGN_RODATA_END
 
 #endif
 
@@ -112,13 +111,11 @@
 
 	EXCEPTION_TABLE(16) :text = 0x9090
 
-#if defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA)
 	/* .text should occupy whole number of pages */
 	. = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);
-#endif
-	X64_ALIGN_DEBUG_RODATA_BEGIN
+	X64_ALIGN_RODATA_BEGIN
 	RO_DATA(PAGE_SIZE)
-	X64_ALIGN_DEBUG_RODATA_END
+	X64_ALIGN_RODATA_END
 
 	/* Data */
 	.data : AT(ADDR(.data) - LOAD_OFFSET) {
diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c b/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c
index cb4ef3d..2ebfbaf 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/init_32.c
@@ -871,7 +871,6 @@
 	return flag;
 }
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 const int rodata_test_data = 0xC3;
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(rodata_test_data);
 
@@ -960,5 +959,3 @@
 	if (__supported_pte_mask & _PAGE_NX)
 		debug_checkwx();
 }
-#endif
-
diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c b/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c
index 5488d21..a40b755 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c
@@ -1074,7 +1074,6 @@
 	mem_init_print_info(NULL);
 }
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 const int rodata_test_data = 0xC3;
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(rodata_test_data);
 
@@ -1166,8 +1165,6 @@
 	debug_checkwx();
 }
 
-#endif
-
 int kern_addr_valid(unsigned long addr)
 {
 	unsigned long above = ((long)addr) >> __VIRTUAL_MASK_SHIFT;
diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c b/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c
index 9cf96d8..1c37e65 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@
 		   __pa_symbol(__end_rodata) >> PAGE_SHIFT))
 		pgprot_val(forbidden) |= _PAGE_RW;
 
-#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64) && defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA)
+#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64)
 	/*
 	 * Once the kernel maps the text as RO (kernel_set_to_readonly is set),
 	 * kernel text mappings for the large page aligned text, rodata sections
diff --git a/drivers/misc/lkdtm.c b/drivers/misc/lkdtm.c
index 11fdadc..2a6eaf1 100644
--- a/drivers/misc/lkdtm.c
+++ b/drivers/misc/lkdtm.c
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@
 	CT_EXEC_USERSPACE,
 	CT_ACCESS_USERSPACE,
 	CT_WRITE_RO,
+	CT_WRITE_RO_AFTER_INIT,
 	CT_WRITE_KERN,
 };
 
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@
 	"EXEC_USERSPACE",
 	"ACCESS_USERSPACE",
 	"WRITE_RO",
+	"WRITE_RO_AFTER_INIT",
 	"WRITE_KERN",
 };
 
@@ -162,6 +164,7 @@
 static u8 data_area[EXEC_SIZE];
 
 static const unsigned long rodata = 0xAA55AA55;
+static unsigned long ro_after_init __ro_after_init = 0x55AA5500;
 
 module_param(recur_count, int, 0644);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(recur_count, " Recursion level for the stack overflow test");
@@ -503,11 +506,28 @@
 		break;
 	}
 	case CT_WRITE_RO: {
-		unsigned long *ptr;
+		/* Explicitly cast away "const" for the test. */
+		unsigned long *ptr = (unsigned long *)&rodata;
 
-		ptr = (unsigned long *)&rodata;
+		pr_info("attempting bad rodata write at %p\n", ptr);
+		*ptr ^= 0xabcd1234;
 
-		pr_info("attempting bad write at %p\n", ptr);
+		break;
+	}
+	case CT_WRITE_RO_AFTER_INIT: {
+		unsigned long *ptr = &ro_after_init;
+
+		/*
+		 * Verify we were written to during init. Since an Oops
+		 * is considered a "success", a failure is to just skip the
+		 * real test.
+		 */
+		if ((*ptr & 0xAA) != 0xAA) {
+			pr_info("%p was NOT written during init!?\n", ptr);
+			break;
+		}
+
+		pr_info("attempting bad ro_after_init write at %p\n", ptr);
 		*ptr ^= 0xabcd1234;
 
 		break;
@@ -817,6 +837,9 @@
 	int n_debugfs_entries = 1; /* Assume only the direct entry */
 	int i;
 
+	/* Make sure we can write to __ro_after_init values during __init */
+	ro_after_init |= 0xAA;
+
 	/* Register debugfs interface */
 	lkdtm_debugfs_root = debugfs_create_dir("provoke-crash", NULL);
 	if (!lkdtm_debugfs_root) {
diff --git a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
index c4bd0e2..772c784 100644
--- a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
+++ b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
@@ -256,6 +256,7 @@
 	.rodata           : AT(ADDR(.rodata) - LOAD_OFFSET) {		\
 		VMLINUX_SYMBOL(__start_rodata) = .;			\
 		*(.rodata) *(.rodata.*)					\
+		*(.data..ro_after_init)	/* Read only after init */	\
 		*(__vermagic)		/* Kernel version magic */	\
 		. = ALIGN(8);						\
 		VMLINUX_SYMBOL(__start___tracepoints_ptrs) = .;		\
diff --git a/include/linux/cache.h b/include/linux/cache.h
index 17e7e82..1be04f8 100644
--- a/include/linux/cache.h
+++ b/include/linux/cache.h
@@ -12,10 +12,24 @@
 #define SMP_CACHE_BYTES L1_CACHE_BYTES
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * __read_mostly is used to keep rarely changing variables out of frequently
+ * updated cachelines. If an architecture doesn't support it, ignore the
+ * hint.
+ */
 #ifndef __read_mostly
 #define __read_mostly
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * __ro_after_init is used to mark things that are read-only after init (i.e.
+ * after mark_rodata_ro() has been called). These are effectively read-only,
+ * but may get written to during init, so can't live in .rodata (via "const").
+ */
+#ifndef __ro_after_init
+#define __ro_after_init __attribute__((__section__(".data..ro_after_init")))
+#endif
+
 #ifndef ____cacheline_aligned
 #define ____cacheline_aligned __attribute__((__aligned__(SMP_CACHE_BYTES)))
 #endif
diff --git a/include/linux/init.h b/include/linux/init.h
index b449f37..aedb254 100644
--- a/include/linux/init.h
+++ b/include/linux/init.h
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@
 void __init load_default_modules(void);
 int __init init_rootfs(void);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
+void mark_rodata_ro(void);
+#endif
+
 extern void (*late_time_init)(void);
 
 extern bool initcall_debug;
diff --git a/init/main.c b/init/main.c
index b3008bc..7c27de4 100644
--- a/init/main.c
+++ b/init/main.c
@@ -93,9 +93,6 @@
 extern void init_IRQ(void);
 extern void fork_init(void);
 extern void radix_tree_init(void);
-#ifndef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
-static inline void mark_rodata_ro(void) { }
-#endif
 
 /*
  * Debug helper: via this flag we know that we are in 'early bootup code'
@@ -924,6 +921,28 @@
 
 static noinline void __init kernel_init_freeable(void);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
+static bool rodata_enabled = true;
+static int __init set_debug_rodata(char *str)
+{
+	return strtobool(str, &rodata_enabled);
+}
+__setup("rodata=", set_debug_rodata);
+
+static void mark_readonly(void)
+{
+	if (rodata_enabled)
+		mark_rodata_ro();
+	else
+		pr_info("Kernel memory protection disabled.\n");
+}
+#else
+static inline void mark_readonly(void)
+{
+	pr_warn("This architecture does not have kernel memory protection.\n");
+}
+#endif
+
 static int __ref kernel_init(void *unused)
 {
 	int ret;
@@ -932,7 +951,7 @@
 	/* need to finish all async __init code before freeing the memory */
 	async_synchronize_full();
 	free_initmem();
-	mark_rodata_ro();
+	mark_readonly();
 	system_state = SYSTEM_RUNNING;
 	numa_default_policy();
 
diff --git a/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_bp.c b/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_bp.c
index e1dbf4a..90ff129 100644
--- a/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_bp.c
+++ b/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_bp.c
@@ -153,13 +153,11 @@
 	} else {
 		kdb_printf("%s: failed to set breakpoint at 0x%lx\n",
 			   __func__, bp->bp_addr);
-#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA
 		if (!bp->bp_type) {
 			kdb_printf("Software breakpoints are unavailable.\n"
-				   "  Change the kernel CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA=n\n"
+				   "  Boot the kernel with rodata=off\n"
 				   "  OR use hw breaks: help bph\n");
 		}
-#endif
 		return 1;
 	}
 	return 0;