diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
index 5310513b7573..4bbe31f98ef8 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ static struct ata_force_ent *ata_force_tbl;
 static int ata_force_tbl_size;
 
 static char ata_force_param_buf[PAGE_SIZE] __initdata;
-module_param_string(force, ata_force_param_buf, sizeof(ata_force_param_buf), 0444);
+/* param_buf is thrown away after initialization, disallow read */
+module_param_string(force, ata_force_param_buf, sizeof(ata_force_param_buf), 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(force, "Force ATA configurations including cable type, link speed and transfer mode (see Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt for details)");
 
 int atapi_enabled = 1;