diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
index 1c91f0d3..3194ec4 100644
--- a/mm/sparse.c
+++ b/mm/sparse.c
@@ -481,6 +481,9 @@
 	struct page **map_map;
 #endif
 
+	/* see include/linux/mmzone.h 'struct mem_section' definition */
+	BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
+
 	/* Setup pageblock_order for HUGETLB_PAGE_SIZE_VARIABLE */
 	set_pageblock_order();