diff --git a/src/include/rules.h b/src/include/rules.h
index be72e9ea06..39836b11bf 100644
--- a/src/include/rules.h
+++ b/src/include/rules.h
@@ -274,6 +274,13 @@
 #define ENV_USER_SPACE		0
 #endif
 
+/* Define the first stage to run */
+#if CONFIG(VBOOT_STARTS_BEFORE_BOOTBLOCK)
+#define ENV_INITIAL_STAGE		ENV_SEPARATE_VERSTAGE
+#else
+#define ENV_INITIAL_STAGE		ENV_BOOTBLOCK
+#endif
+
 /**
  * For pre-DRAM stages and post-CAR always build with simple device model, ie.
  * PCI, PNP and CPU functions operate without use of devicetree. The reason
diff --git a/src/lib/fmap.c b/src/lib/fmap.c
index 671a962c25..e1e6a57a22 100644
--- a/src/lib/fmap.c
+++ b/src/lib/fmap.c
@@ -56,9 +56,8 @@ static void setup_preram_cache(struct mem_region_device *cache_mrdev)
 	}
 
 	struct fmap *fmap = (struct fmap *)_fmap_cache;
-	if (!ENV_BOOTBLOCK) {
-		/* NOTE: This assumes that for all platforms running this code,
-		   the bootblock is the first stage and the bootblock will make
+	if (!(ENV_INITIAL_STAGE)) {
+		/* NOTE: This assumes that the first stage will make
 		   at least one FMAP access (usually from finding CBFS). */
 		if (!check_signature(fmap))
 			goto register_cache;