diff --git a/lib_arm/board.c b/lib_arm/board.c
index e97e158..7673d06 100644
--- a/lib_arm/board.c
+++ b/lib_arm/board.c
@@ -217,6 +217,9 @@
 
 	/* Pointer is writable since we allocated a register for it */
 	gd = (gd_t*)(_armboot_start - CFG_MALLOC_LEN - sizeof(gd_t));
+	/* compiler optimization barrier needed for GCC >= 3.4 */
+	__asm__ __volatile__("": : :"memory");
+
 	memset ((void*)gd, 0, sizeof (gd_t));
 	gd->bd = (bd_t*)((char*)gd - sizeof(bd_t));
 	memset (gd->bd, 0, sizeof (bd_t));