diff --git a/arch/openrisc/include/asm/timex.h b/arch/openrisc/include/asm/timex.h
index 9935cad1b9b9..34d015bf0462 100644
--- a/arch/openrisc/include/asm/timex.h
+++ b/arch/openrisc/include/asm/timex.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ static inline cycles_t get_cycles(void)
 {
 	return mfspr(SPR_TTCR);
 }
+#define get_cycles get_cycles
 
 /* This isn't really used any more */
 #define CLOCK_TICK_RATE 1000
diff --git a/arch/openrisc/kernel/head.S b/arch/openrisc/kernel/head.S
index 98dd6860bc0b..0b6be5b3522b 100644
--- a/arch/openrisc/kernel/head.S
+++ b/arch/openrisc/kernel/head.S
@@ -452,6 +452,15 @@ _start:
 	l.ori	r3,r0,0x1
 	l.mtspr	r0,r3,SPR_SR
 
+	/*
+	 * Start the TTCR as early as possible, so that the RNG can make use of
+	 * measurements of boot time from the earliest opportunity. Especially
+	 * important is that the TTCR does not return zero by the time we reach
+	 * rand_initialize().
+	 */
+	l.movhi r3,hi(SPR_TTMR_CR)
+	l.mtspr r0,r3,SPR_TTMR
+
 	CLEAR_GPR(r1)
 	CLEAR_GPR(r2)
 	CLEAR_GPR(r3)