diff --git a/drivers/video/aty/radeon_accel.c b/drivers/video/aty/radeon_accel.c
index a547e5d4c8bf..8da5e5ab8547 100644
--- a/drivers/video/aty/radeon_accel.c
+++ b/drivers/video/aty/radeon_accel.c
@@ -256,7 +256,8 @@ void radeonfb_imageblit(struct fb_info *info, const struct fb_image *image)
 		return;
 
 	/* We only do 1 bpp color expansion for now */
-	if (info->flags & FBINFO_HWACCEL_DISABLED || image->depth != 1)
+	if (!accel_cexp ||
+	    (info->flags & FBINFO_HWACCEL_DISABLED) || image->depth != 1)
 		goto fallback;
 
 	/* Fallback if running out of the screen. We may do clipping
diff --git a/drivers/video/aty/radeon_base.c b/drivers/video/aty/radeon_base.c
index b3ffe8205d2b..d5b27f9d374d 100644
--- a/drivers/video/aty/radeon_base.c
+++ b/drivers/video/aty/radeon_base.c
@@ -282,6 +282,8 @@ static int backlight = 1;
 static int backlight = 0;
 #endif
 
+int accel_cexp = 0;
+
 /*
  * prototypes
  */
@@ -2520,6 +2522,8 @@ static int __init radeonfb_setup (char *options)
 		} else if (!strncmp(this_opt, "ignore_devlist", 14)) {
 			ignore_devlist = 1;
 #endif
+		} else if (!strncmp(this_opt, "accel_cexp", 12)) {
+			accel_cexp = 1;
 		} else
 			mode_option = this_opt;
 	}
@@ -2567,6 +2571,8 @@ module_param(monitor_layout, charp, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(monitor_layout, "Specify monitor mapping (like XFree86)");
 module_param(force_measure_pll, bool, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(force_measure_pll, "Force measurement of PLL (debug)");
+module_param(accel_cexp, bool, 0);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(accel_cexp, "Use acceleration engine for color expansion");
 #ifdef CONFIG_MTRR
 module_param(nomtrr, bool, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(nomtrr, "bool: disable use of MTRR registers");
diff --git a/drivers/video/aty/radeonfb.h b/drivers/video/aty/radeonfb.h
index ea0b5b47acaf..974ca6d86540 100644
--- a/drivers/video/aty/radeonfb.h
+++ b/drivers/video/aty/radeonfb.h
@@ -638,4 +638,6 @@ static inline void radeonfb_bl_init(struct radeonfb_info *rinfo) {}
 static inline void radeonfb_bl_exit(struct radeonfb_info *rinfo) {}
 #endif
 
+extern int accel_cexp;
+
 #endif /* __RADEONFB_H__ */