#define CHIP_ERASE_2MB_READY_WAIT_JIFFIES      (40UL * HZ)
 
 #define SPI_NOR_MAX_ID_LEN     6
+#define SPI_NOR_MAX_ADDR_WIDTH 4
 
 struct flash_info {
        char            *name;
        mutex_unlock(&nor->lock);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Initiate the erasure of a single sector
+ */
+static int spi_nor_erase_sector(struct spi_nor *nor, u32 addr)
+{
+       u8 buf[SPI_NOR_MAX_ADDR_WIDTH];
+       int i;
+
+       if (nor->erase)
+               return nor->erase(nor, addr);
+
+       /*
+        * Default implementation, if driver doesn't have a specialized HW
+        * control
+        */
+       for (i = nor->addr_width - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+               buf[i] = addr & 0xff;
+               addr >>= 8;
+       }
+
+       return nor->write_reg(nor, nor->erase_opcode, buf, nor->addr_width);
+}
+
 /*
  * Erase an address range on the nor chip.  The address range may extend
  * one or more erase sectors.  Return an error is there is a problem erasing.
                while (len) {
                        write_enable(nor);
 
-                       if (nor->erase(nor, addr)) {
-                               ret = -EIO;
+                       ret = spi_nor_erase_sector(nor, addr);
+                       if (ret)
                                goto erase_err;
-                       }
 
                        addr += mtd->erasesize;
                        len -= mtd->erasesize;
 static int spi_nor_check(struct spi_nor *nor)
 {
        if (!nor->dev || !nor->read || !nor->write ||
-               !nor->read_reg || !nor->write_reg || !nor->erase) {
+               !nor->read_reg || !nor->write_reg) {
                pr_err("spi-nor: please fill all the necessary fields!\n");
                return -EINVAL;
        }
                nor->addr_width = 3;
        }
 
+       if (nor->addr_width > SPI_NOR_MAX_ADDR_WIDTH) {
+               dev_err(dev, "address width is too large: %u\n",
+                       nor->addr_width);
+               return -EINVAL;
+       }
+
        nor->read_dummy = spi_nor_read_dummy_cycles(nor);
 
        dev_info(dev, "%s (%lld Kbytes)\n", info->name,
 
  * @read:              [DRIVER-SPECIFIC] read data from the SPI NOR
  * @write:             [DRIVER-SPECIFIC] write data to the SPI NOR
  * @erase:             [DRIVER-SPECIFIC] erase a sector of the SPI NOR
- *                     at the offset @offs
+ *                     at the offset @offs; if not provided by the driver,
+ *                     spi-nor will send the erase opcode via write_reg()
  * @flash_lock:                [FLASH-SPECIFIC] lock a region of the SPI NOR
  * @flash_unlock:      [FLASH-SPECIFIC] unlock a region of the SPI NOR
  * @flash_is_locked:   [FLASH-SPECIFIC] check if a region of the SPI NOR is