diff --git a/src/northbridge/intel/sandybridge/raminit.c b/src/northbridge/intel/sandybridge/raminit.c
index bdba748..12384b4 100644
--- a/src/northbridge/intel/sandybridge/raminit.c
+++ b/src/northbridge/intel/sandybridge/raminit.c
@@ -234,7 +234,10 @@
 				printram("XMP profile supports %u DIMMs, but %u DIMMs are installed.\n",
 						 dimm->dimm[channel][slot].dimms_per_channel,
 						 dimms_on_channel);
-				spd_decode_ddr3(&dimm->dimm[channel][slot], spd[spd_slot]);
+				if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NATIVE_RAMINIT_IGNORE_XMP_MAX_DIMMS))
+					printk(BIOS_WARNING, "XMP maximum DIMMs will be ignored.\n");
+				else
+					spd_decode_ddr3(&dimm->dimm[channel][slot], spd[spd_slot]);
 			} else if (dimm->dimm[channel][slot].voltage != 1500) {
 				/* TODO: support other DDR3 voltage than 1500mV */
 				printram("XMP profile's requested %u mV is unsupported.\n",