diff --git a/kernel/params.c b/kernel/params.c
index 3456b104efc9..a1ff4bfc9165 100644
--- a/kernel/params.c
+++ b/kernel/params.c
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(param_set_uint_minmax);
 
 int param_set_charp(const char *val, const struct kernel_param *kp)
 {
+	char *tmp;
 	size_t len, maxlen = 1024;
 
 	len = strnlen(val, maxlen + 1);
@@ -269,19 +270,20 @@ int param_set_charp(const char *val, const struct kernel_param *kp)
 		return -ENOSPC;
 	}
 
-	maybe_kfree_parameter(*(char **)kp->arg);
-
 	/*
 	 * This is a hack. We can't kmalloc() in early boot, and we
 	 * don't need to; this mangled commandline is preserved.
 	 */
 	if (slab_is_available()) {
-		*(char **)kp->arg = kmalloc_parameter(len + 1);
-		if (!*(char **)kp->arg)
+		tmp = kmalloc_parameter(len + 1);
+		if (!tmp)
 			return -ENOMEM;
-		strcpy(*(char **)kp->arg, val);
+		memcpy(tmp, val, len + 1);
 	} else
-		*(const char **)kp->arg = val;
+		tmp = (char *)val;
+
+	maybe_kfree_parameter(*(char **)kp->arg);
+	*(char **)kp->arg = tmp;
 
 	return 0;
 }