diff --git a/common/cmd_nvedit.c b/common/cmd_nvedit.c
index 2996362cdf..705cde7db8 100644
--- a/common/cmd_nvedit.c
+++ b/common/cmd_nvedit.c
@@ -633,6 +633,11 @@ char *getenv(const char *name)
 		hsearch_r(e, FIND, &ep, &env_htab, 0);
 
 		return ep ? ep->data : NULL;
+	} else {
+#ifdef CONFIG_ENV_SIZE_MAX
+/* for first time set maximum */
+#define CONFIG_ENV_SIZE CONFIG_ENV_SIZE_MAX
+#endif
 	}
 
 	/* restricted capabilities before import */
diff --git a/include/environment.h b/include/environment.h
index 9bcc7fd61b..225987121b 100644
--- a/include/environment.h
+++ b/include/environment.h
@@ -153,6 +153,10 @@ extern char *env_name_spec;
 #define ENV_SIZE (CONFIG_ENV_RANGE - ENV_HEADER_SIZE)
 #endif
 
+#ifndef CONFIG_ENV_SIZE_MAX
+#define CONFIG_ENV_SIZE_MAX CONFIG_ENV_SIZE
+#endif
+
 typedef struct environment_s {
 	uint32_t	crc;		/* CRC32 over data bytes	*/
 #ifdef CONFIG_SYS_REDUNDAND_ENVIRONMENT