diff --git a/hw/arm/raspi.c b/hw/arm/raspi.c
index f285e2988f..dcd8d2d6d3 100644
--- a/hw/arm/raspi.c
+++ b/hw/arm/raspi.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "qemu/units.h"
+#include "qemu/cutils.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "cpu.h"
 #include "hw/arm/bcm2836.h"
@@ -49,6 +50,12 @@ FIELD(REV_CODE, MANUFACTURER,      16, 4);
 FIELD(REV_CODE, MEMORY_SIZE,       20, 3);
 FIELD(REV_CODE, STYLE,             23, 1);
 
+static uint64_t board_ram_size(uint32_t board_rev)
+{
+    assert(FIELD_EX32(board_rev, REV_CODE, STYLE)); /* Only new style */
+    return 256 * MiB << FIELD_EX32(board_rev, REV_CODE, MEMORY_SIZE);
+}
+
 static int board_processor_id(uint32_t board_rev)
 {
     assert(FIELD_EX32(board_rev, REV_CODE, STYLE)); /* Only new style */
@@ -191,15 +198,17 @@ static void raspi_init(MachineState *machine, uint32_t board_rev)
 {
     RasPiState *s = g_new0(RasPiState, 1);
     int version = board_version(board_rev);
+    uint64_t ram_size = board_ram_size(board_rev);
     uint32_t vcram_size;
     DriveInfo *di;
     BlockBackend *blk;
     BusState *bus;
     DeviceState *carddev;
 
-    if (machine->ram_size > 1 * GiB) {
-        error_report("Requested ram size is too large for this machine: "
-                     "maximum is 1GB");
+    if (machine->ram_size != ram_size) {
+        char *size_str = size_to_str(ram_size);
+        error_report("Invalid RAM size, should be %s", size_str);
+        g_free(size_str);
         exit(1);
     }