diff --git a/arch/um/drivers/line.c b/arch/um/drivers/line.c
index 80ade224d740723a3547e4acc6af207383f827a2..9af55ece198d3671f528da7ab6dd89350b24b98f 100644
--- a/arch/um/drivers/line.c
+++ b/arch/um/drivers/line.c
@@ -500,11 +500,9 @@ void close_lines(struct line *lines, int nlines)
 /* Common setup code for both startup command line and mconsole initialization.
  * @lines contains the the array (of size @num) to modify;
  * @init is the setup string;
- * @all_allowed is a boolean saying if we can setup the whole @lines
- * at once. For instance, it will be usually true for startup init. (where we
- * can use con=xterm) and false for mconsole.*/
+ */
 
-int line_setup(struct line *lines, unsigned int num, char *init, int all_allowed)
+int line_setup(struct line *lines, unsigned int num, char *init)
 {
 	int i, n;
 	char *end;
@@ -545,11 +543,6 @@ int line_setup(struct line *lines, unsigned int num, char *init, int all_allowed
 			}	
 		}
 	}
-	else if(!all_allowed){
-		printk("line_setup - can't configure all devices from "
-		       "mconsole\n");
-		return 0;
-	}
 	else {
 		for(i = 0; i < num; i++){
 			if(lines[i].init_pri <= INIT_ALL){
@@ -569,12 +562,18 @@ int line_config(struct line *lines, unsigned int num, char *str)
 {
 	char *new;
 
+	if(*str == '='){
+		printk("line_config - can't configure all devices from "
+		       "mconsole\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
 	new = kstrdup(str, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if(new == NULL){
 		printk("line_config - kstrdup failed\n");
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
-	return !line_setup(lines, num, new, 0);
+	return !line_setup(lines, num, new);
 }
 
 int line_get_config(char *name, struct line *lines, unsigned int num, char *str,
@@ -628,7 +627,7 @@ int line_remove(struct line *lines, unsigned int num, int n)
 	char config[sizeof("conxxxx=none\0")];
 
 	sprintf(config, "%d=none", n);
-	return !line_setup(lines, num, config, 0);
+	return !line_setup(lines, num, config);
 }
 
 struct tty_driver *line_register_devfs(struct lines *set,
diff --git a/arch/um/drivers/ssl.c b/arch/um/drivers/ssl.c
index 8564784cd2e12b78df86323f5a7d0de0726bb02c..e1895d9babbecdeecc01a3b4ba23266d6447cb25 100644
--- a/arch/um/drivers/ssl.c
+++ b/arch/um/drivers/ssl.c
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ __uml_exitcall(ssl_exit);
 
 static int ssl_chan_setup(char *str)
 {
-	return line_setup(serial_lines, ARRAY_SIZE(serial_lines), str, 1);
+	return line_setup(serial_lines, ARRAY_SIZE(serial_lines), str);
 }
 
 __setup("ssl", ssl_chan_setup);
diff --git a/arch/um/drivers/stdio_console.c b/arch/um/drivers/stdio_console.c
index b77f7d2ab83bc3089ff82c7bbc7d16c709dc65f2..72000d3a19eef469346ffa09954e1c5813aeeaec 100644
--- a/arch/um/drivers/stdio_console.c
+++ b/arch/um/drivers/stdio_console.c
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ __uml_exitcall(console_exit);
 
 static int console_chan_setup(char *str)
 {
-	return line_setup(vts, ARRAY_SIZE(vts), str, 1);
+	return line_setup(vts, ARRAY_SIZE(vts), str);
 }
 __setup("con", console_chan_setup);
 __channel_help(console_chan_setup, "con");
diff --git a/arch/um/include/line.h b/arch/um/include/line.h
index 315788ce59fa260d3f81b0e24039bc34d646bf41..e22c9e0f2d026c04460de8342d7458ed541a94cf 100644
--- a/arch/um/include/line.h
+++ b/arch/um/include/line.h
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ struct lines {
 extern void line_close(struct tty_struct *tty, struct file * filp);
 extern int line_open(struct line *lines, struct tty_struct *tty,
 		     struct chan_opts *opts);
-extern int line_setup(struct line *lines, unsigned int sizeof_lines, char *init,
-		      int all_allowed);
+extern int line_setup(struct line *lines, unsigned int sizeof_lines,
+		      char *init);
 extern int line_write(struct tty_struct *tty, const unsigned char *buf,
 		      int len);
 extern void line_put_char(struct tty_struct *tty, unsigned char ch);