diff --git a/target/linux/mvebu/base-files/etc/init.d/u-boot_env b/target/linux/mvebu/base-files/etc/init.d/u-boot_env
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..82f36cb71f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/linux/mvebu/base-files/etc/init.d/u-boot_env
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
+# Copyright (C) 2015 OpenWrt.org
+
+START=97
+boot() {
+. /lib/functions.sh
+. /lib/mvebu.sh
+
+case $(mvebu_board_name) in
+	armada-385-linksys-caiman|armada-385-linksys-cobra|armada-xp-linksys-mamba)
+		fw_setenv auto_recovery off
+		;;
+esac
+}
diff --git a/target/linux/mvebu/base-files/lib/upgrade/linksys.sh b/target/linux/mvebu/base-files/lib/upgrade/linksys.sh
index f37831ba75..fc403332bd 100644
--- a/target/linux/mvebu/base-files/lib/upgrade/linksys.sh
+++ b/target/linux/mvebu/base-files/lib/upgrade/linksys.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright (C) 2014 OpenWrt.org
+# Copyright (C) 2014-2015 OpenWrt.org
 #
 
 linksys_get_target_firmware() {
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ linksys_get_target_firmware() {
 		fw_setenv bootcmd "run nandboot"
 	fi
 
+	# re-enable recovery so we get back if the new firmware is broken
+	fw_setenv auto_recovery yes
+
 	echo "$target_firmware"
 }