diff --git a/drivers/mmc/core/Kconfig b/drivers/mmc/core/Kconfig
index 4c33d7690f2f..319c68d7b0f4 100644
--- a/drivers/mmc/core/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/mmc/core/Kconfig
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
 #
 # MMC core configuration
 #
+
+config MMC_PARANOID_SD_INIT
+	bool "Enable paranoid SD card initialization (EXPERIMENTAL)"
+	help
+	  If you say Y here, the MMC layer will be extra paranoid
+	  about re-trying SD init requests. This can be a useful
+	  work-around for buggy controllers and hardware. Enable
+	  if you are experiencing issues with SD detection.
diff --git a/drivers/mmc/core/sd.c b/drivers/mmc/core/sd.c
index 141eaa923e18..db828959d6d1 100644
--- a/drivers/mmc/core/sd.c
+++ b/drivers/mmc/core/sd.c
@@ -809,6 +809,9 @@ int mmc_sd_setup_card(struct mmc_host *host, struct mmc_card *card,
 	bool reinit)
 {
 	int err;
+#ifdef CONFIG_MMC_PARANOID_SD_INIT
+	int retries;
+#endif
 
 	if (!reinit) {
 		/*
@@ -835,7 +838,26 @@ int mmc_sd_setup_card(struct mmc_host *host, struct mmc_card *card,
 		/*
 		 * Fetch switch information from card.
 		 */
+#ifdef CONFIG_MMC_PARANOID_SD_INIT
+		for (retries = 1; retries <= 3; retries++) {
+			err = mmc_read_switch(card);
+			if (!err) {
+				if (retries > 1) {
+					printk(KERN_WARNING
+					       "%s: recovered\n",
+					       mmc_hostname(host));
+				}
+				break;
+			} else {
+				printk(KERN_WARNING
+				       "%s: read switch failed (attempt %d)\n",
+				       mmc_hostname(host), retries);
+			}
+		}
+#else
 		err = mmc_read_switch(card);
+#endif
+
 		if (err)
 			return err;
 	}