diff --git a/common/Kconfig b/common/Kconfig
index b776031ba..59bd30185 100644
--- a/common/Kconfig
+++ b/common/Kconfig
@@ -548,6 +548,14 @@ config BAREBOXENV_TARGET
 config POLLER
 	bool "generic polling infrastructure"
 
+config RESET_SOURCE
+	bool "detect Reset cause"
+	depends on GLOBALVAR
+	help
+	  Provide a global variable at runtine which reflects the possible cause
+	  of the reset and why the bootloader is currently running. It can be
+	  useful for any kind of system recovery or repair.
+
 endmenu
 
 menu "Debugging                     "
diff --git a/common/Makefile b/common/Makefile
index a1926d346..9b150a8e9 100644
--- a/common/Makefile
+++ b/common/Makefile
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ obj-y += startup.o
 obj-y += misc.o
 obj-y += memsize.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_GLOBALVAR) += globalvar.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_RESET_SOURCE) += reset_source.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_FILETYPE) += filetype.o
 obj-y += resource.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_MENU) += menu.o
diff --git a/common/reset_source.c b/common/reset_source.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2a7f9ff6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/reset_source.c
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * (C) Copyright 2012 Juergen Beisert - <kernel@pengutronix.de>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+ * the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ */
+
+#include <common.h>
+#include <init.h>
+#include <environment.h>
+#include <globalvar.h>
+#include <reset_source.h>
+
+static const char * const reset_src_names[] = {
+	[RESET_UKWN] = "unknown",
+	[RESET_POR] = "POR",
+	[RESET_RST] = "RST",
+	[RESET_WDG] = "WDG",
+	[RESET_WKE] = "WKE",
+	[RESET_JTAG] = "JTAG",
+};
+
+void set_reset_source(enum reset_src_type st)
+{
+	setenv("global.system.reset", reset_src_names[st]);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(set_reset_source);
+
+/* ensure this runs after the 'global' device is already registerd */
+static int init_reset_source(void)
+{
+	globalvar_add_simple("system.reset");
+	set_reset_source(RESET_UKWN);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+coredevice_initcall(init_reset_source);
diff --git a/include/reset_source.h b/include/reset_source.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6734fbdee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/reset_source.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+ * the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ */
+
+#ifndef __INCLUDE_RESET_SOURCE_H
+# define __INCLUDE_RESET_SOURCE_H
+
+enum reset_src_type {
+	RESET_UKWN,	/* maybe the SoC cannot detect the reset source */
+	RESET_POR,	/* Power On Reset (cold start) */
+	RESET_RST,	/* generic ReSeT (warm start) */
+	RESET_WDG,	/* watchdog */
+	RESET_WKE,	/* wake-up (some SoCs can handle this) */
+	RESET_JTAG,	/* JTAG reset */
+};
+
+void set_reset_source(enum reset_src_type);
+
+#endif /* __INCLUDE_RESET_SOURCE_H */