diff --git a/arch/arc/kernel/head.S b/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
index 8b90d25a15cc..26e33a8b2d18 100644
--- a/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
+++ b/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <asm/entry.h>
 #include <asm/arcregs.h>
 #include <asm/cache.h>
+#include <asm/irqflags.h>
 
 .macro CPU_EARLY_SETUP
 
@@ -47,6 +48,15 @@
 	sr	r5, [ARC_REG_DC_CTRL]
 
 1:
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_ISA_ARCV2
+	; Unaligned access is disabled at reset, so re-enable early as
+	; gcc 7.3.1 (ARC GNU 2018.03) onwards generates unaligned access
+	; by default
+	lr	r5, [status32]
+	bset	r5, r5, STATUS_AD_BIT
+	kflag	r5
+#endif
 .endm
 
 	.section .init.text, "ax",@progbits