diff --git a/arch/arc/kernel/intc-arcv2.c b/arch/arc/kernel/intc-arcv2.c
index f928795fd07a..cf90714a676d 100644
--- a/arch/arc/kernel/intc-arcv2.c
+++ b/arch/arc/kernel/intc-arcv2.c
@@ -75,10 +75,13 @@ void arc_init_IRQ(void)
 	 * Set a default priority for all available interrupts to prevent
 	 * switching of register banks if Fast IRQ and multiple register banks
 	 * are supported by CPU.
+	 * Also disable all IRQ lines so faulty external hardware won't
+	 * trigger interrupt that kernel is not ready to handle.
 	 */
 	for (i = NR_EXCEPTIONS; i < irq_bcr.irqs + NR_EXCEPTIONS; i++) {
 		write_aux_reg(AUX_IRQ_SELECT, i);
 		write_aux_reg(AUX_IRQ_PRIORITY, ARCV2_IRQ_DEF_PRIO);
+		write_aux_reg(AUX_IRQ_ENABLE, 0);
 	}
 
 	/* setup status32, don't enable intr yet as kernel doesn't want */
diff --git a/arch/arc/kernel/intc-compact.c b/arch/arc/kernel/intc-compact.c
index 7e608c6b0a01..cef388025adf 100644
--- a/arch/arc/kernel/intc-compact.c
+++ b/arch/arc/kernel/intc-compact.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
  */
 void arc_init_IRQ(void)
 {
-	int level_mask = 0;
+	int level_mask = 0, i;
 
        /* Is timer high priority Interrupt (Level2 in ARCompact jargon) */
 	level_mask |= IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ARC_COMPACT_IRQ_LEVELS) << TIMER0_IRQ;
@@ -40,6 +40,18 @@ void arc_init_IRQ(void)
 
 	if (level_mask)
 		pr_info("Level-2 interrupts bitset %x\n", level_mask);
+
+	/*
+	 * Disable all IRQ lines so faulty external hardware won't
+	 * trigger interrupt that kernel is not ready to handle.
+	 */
+	for (i = TIMER0_IRQ; i < NR_CPU_IRQS; i++) {
+		unsigned int ienb;
+
+		ienb = read_aux_reg(AUX_IENABLE);
+		ienb &= ~(1 << i);
+		write_aux_reg(AUX_IENABLE, ienb);
+	}
 }
 
 /*