diff --git a/drivers/clocksource/arm_arch_timer.c b/drivers/clocksource/arm_arch_timer.c
index 9a5464c..4faa930 100644
--- a/drivers/clocksource/arm_arch_timer.c
+++ b/drivers/clocksource/arm_arch_timer.c
@@ -885,6 +885,17 @@ static int arch_timer_starting_cpu(unsigned int cpu)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int validate_timer_rate(void)
+{
+	if (!arch_timer_rate)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	/* Arch timer frequency < 1MHz can cause trouble */
+	WARN_ON(arch_timer_rate < 1000000);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /*
  * For historical reasons, when probing with DT we use whichever (non-zero)
  * rate was probed first, and don't verify that others match. If the first node
@@ -900,7 +911,7 @@ static void arch_timer_of_configure_rate(u32 rate, struct device_node *np)
 		arch_timer_rate = rate;
 
 	/* Check the timer frequency. */
-	if (arch_timer_rate == 0)
+	if (validate_timer_rate())
 		pr_warn("frequency not available\n");
 }
 
@@ -1594,9 +1605,10 @@ static int __init arch_timer_acpi_init(struct acpi_table_header *table)
 	 * CNTFRQ value. This *must* be correct.
 	 */
 	arch_timer_rate = arch_timer_get_cntfrq();
-	if (!arch_timer_rate) {
+	ret = validate_timer_rate();
+	if (ret) {
 		pr_err(FW_BUG "frequency not available.\n");
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return ret;
 	}
 
 	arch_timer_uses_ppi = arch_timer_select_ppi();