diff --git a/src/lib/lzma.c b/src/lib/lzma.c
index bc38f353f9..f0b88c12e2 100644
--- a/src/lib/lzma.c
+++ b/src/lib/lzma.c
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ unsigned long ulzma(unsigned char * src, unsigned char * dst)
 	int res;
 	CLzmaDecoderState state;
 	SizeT mallocneeds;
+#if !defined(__PRE_RAM__)
+	/* in ramstage, this can go in BSS */
+	static
+#endif
+	/* in pre-ram, it must go on the stack */
 	unsigned char scratchpad[15980];
 
 	memcpy(properties, src, LZMA_PROPERTIES_SIZE);