diff --git a/arch/x86/boot/main.c b/arch/x86/boot/main.c
index 40358c8..cf6083d 100644
--- a/arch/x86/boot/main.c
+++ b/arch/x86/boot/main.c
@@ -57,14 +57,20 @@ static void copy_boot_params(void)
 }
 
 /*
- * Set the keyboard repeat rate to maximum.  Unclear why this
+ * Query the keyboard lock status as given by the BIOS, and
+ * set the keyboard repeat rate to maximum.  Unclear why the latter
  * is done here; this might be possible to kill off as stale code.
  */
-static void keyboard_set_repeat(void)
+static void keyboard_init(void)
 {
-	struct biosregs ireg;
+	struct biosregs ireg, oreg;
 	initregs(&ireg);
-	ireg.ax = 0x0305;
+
+	ireg.ah = 0x02;		/* Get keyboard status */
+	intcall(0x16, &ireg, &oreg);
+	boot_params.kbd_status = oreg.al;
+
+	ireg.ax = 0x0305;	/* Set keyboard repeat rate */
 	intcall(0x16, &ireg, NULL);
 }
 
@@ -151,8 +157,8 @@ void main(void)
 	/* Detect memory layout */
 	detect_memory();
 
-	/* Set keyboard repeat rate (why?) */
-	keyboard_set_repeat();
+	/* Set keyboard repeat rate (why?) and query the lock flags */
+	keyboard_init();
 
 	/* Query MCA information */
 	query_mca();
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/bootparam.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/bootparam.h
index 2f90c51..eb45aa6 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/bootparam.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/bootparam.h
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ struct boot_params {
 	__u8  e820_entries;				/* 0x1e8 */
 	__u8  eddbuf_entries;				/* 0x1e9 */
 	__u8  edd_mbr_sig_buf_entries;			/* 0x1ea */
-	__u8  _pad6[6];					/* 0x1eb */
+	__u8  kbd_status;				/* 0x1eb */
+	__u8  _pad6[5];					/* 0x1ec */
 	struct setup_header hdr;    /* setup header */	/* 0x1f1 */
 	__u8  _pad7[0x290-0x1f1-sizeof(struct setup_header)];
 	__u32 edd_mbr_sig_buffer[EDD_MBR_SIG_MAX];	/* 0x290 */