diff --git a/drivers/md/raid5.c b/drivers/md/raid5.c
index 774f81423d780..2332b5ced0dd0 100644
--- a/drivers/md/raid5.c
+++ b/drivers/md/raid5.c
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@
 #include "raid0.h"
 #include "bitmap.h"
 
+static bool devices_handle_discard_safely = false;
+module_param(devices_handle_discard_safely, bool, 0644);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(devices_handle_discard_safely,
+		 "Set to Y if all devices in each array reliably return zeroes on reads from discarded regions");
 /*
  * Stripe cache
  */
@@ -5611,7 +5615,7 @@ static int run(struct mddev *mddev)
 		mddev->queue->limits.discard_granularity = stripe;
 		/*
 		 * unaligned part of discard request will be ignored, so can't
-		 * guarantee discard_zerors_data
+		 * guarantee discard_zeroes_data
 		 */
 		mddev->queue->limits.discard_zeroes_data = 0;
 
@@ -5636,6 +5640,18 @@ static int run(struct mddev *mddev)
 			    !bdev_get_queue(rdev->bdev)->
 						limits.discard_zeroes_data)
 				discard_supported = false;
+			/* Unfortunately, discard_zeroes_data is not currently
+			 * a guarantee - just a hint.  So we only allow DISCARD
+			 * if the sysadmin has confirmed that only safe devices
+			 * are in use by setting a module parameter.
+			 */
+			if (!devices_handle_discard_safely) {
+				if (discard_supported) {
+					pr_info("md/raid456: discard support disabled due to uncertainty.\n");
+					pr_info("Set raid456.devices_handle_discard_safely=Y to override.\n");
+				}
+				discard_supported = false;
+			}
 		}
 
 		if (discard_supported &&