diff --git a/common.sh b/common.sh
index 1cb2d66ff2..6512790801 100644
--- a/common.sh
+++ b/common.sh
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ compile_uboot()
 	[[ \$DEVICE == /dev/null ]] && exit 0
 	[[ -z \$DEVICE ]] && DEVICE="/dev/mmcblk0"
 	[[ \$(type -t setup_write_uboot_platform) == function ]] && setup_write_uboot_platform
+	echo "Updating u-boot on device \$DEVICE" >&2
 	write_uboot_platform \$DIR \$DEVICE
 	exit 0
 	EOF
diff --git a/config/bootscripts/boot-sunxi.cmd b/config/bootscripts/boot-sunxi.cmd
index 4a24fb4720..b389e9bdbe 100644
--- a/config/bootscripts/boot-sunxi.cmd
+++ b/config/bootscripts/boot-sunxi.cmd
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@ fi
 if test "${console}" = "display" || test "${console}" = "both"; then setenv consoleargs "console=tty1"; fi
 if test "${console}" = "serial" || test "${console}" = "both"; then setenv consoleargs "${consoleargs} console=ttyS0,115200"; fi
 
-setenv bootargs "root=${rootdev} rootwait rootfstype=${rootfstype} ${consoleargs} cgroup_enable=memory swapaccount=1 hdmi.audio=EDID:0 disp.screen0_output_mode=${disp_mode} panic=10 consoleblank=0 enforcing=0 loglevel=${verbosity} ${extraargs} ${extraboardargs}"
+# get PARTUUID of first partition on SD/eMMC it was loaded from
+# mmc 0 is always mapped to device u-boot (2016.09+) was loaded from
+part uuid mmc 0:1 partuuid
+
+setenv bootargs "root=${rootdev} rootwait rootfstype=${rootfstype} ${consoleargs} cgroup_enable=memory swapaccount=1 hdmi.audio=EDID:0 disp.screen0_output_mode=${disp_mode} panic=10 consoleblank=0 enforcing=0 loglevel=${verbosity} ubootpart=${partuuid} ${extraargs} ${extraboardargs}"
 
 if test "${disp_mem_reserves}" = "off"; then setenv bootargs "${bootargs} sunxi_ve_mem_reserve=0 sunxi_g2d_mem_reserve=0 sunxi_fb_mem_reserve=16"; fi
 
diff --git a/config/sources/sunxi_common.inc b/config/sources/sunxi_common.inc
index ca0bea57fb..d181eb5256 100644
--- a/config/sources/sunxi_common.inc
+++ b/config/sources/sunxi_common.inc
@@ -32,15 +32,23 @@ write_uboot_platform()
 
 setup_write_uboot_platform()
 {
-	# This may cause overwriting u-boot for android or other non-Armbian OS installed on eMMC
-	# so don't run this function by default
-	[[ ! -f /var/lib/armbian/allow_uboot_update ]] && return
-	for dev in $(lsblk -d -n -p -o NAME); do
-		if grep -q 'eGON.BT0' <(dd if=$dev bs=32 skip=256 count=1 status=none); then
-			# Assuming that only one device with SPL signature is present
-			echo "SPL signature found on $dev" >&2
-			DEVICE=$dev
-			break
-		fi
-	done
+	if grep -q "ubootpart" /proc/cmdline; then
+		local tmp=$(cat /proc/cmdline)
+		tmp="${tmp##*ubootpart=}"
+		tmp="${tmp%% *}"
+		[[ -n $tmp ]] && local part=$(findfs PARTUUID=$tmp 2>/dev/null)
+		[[ -n $part ]] && local dev=$(lsblk -n -o PKNAME $part 2>/dev/null)
+		[[ -n $dev ]] && DEVICE="/dev/$dev"
+	elif [[ -f /var/lib/armbian/force_search_uboot ]]; then
+		# This may cause overwriting u-boot for android or other non-Armbian OS installed on eMMC
+		# so don't run this function by default
+		for dev in $(lsblk -d -n -p -o NAME); do
+			if grep -q 'eGON.BT0' <(dd if=$dev bs=32 skip=256 count=1 status=none); then
+				# Assuming that only one device with SPL signature is present
+				echo "SPL signature found on $dev" >&2
+				DEVICE=$dev
+				break
+			fi
+		done
+	fi
 }