diff --git a/drivers/nvdimm/namespace_devs.c b/drivers/nvdimm/namespace_devs.c
index cca0a3ba1d2c..b2db15250e0d 100644
--- a/drivers/nvdimm/namespace_devs.c
+++ b/drivers/nvdimm/namespace_devs.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <linux/nd.h>
 #include "nd-core.h"
 #include "pmem.h"
+#include "pfn.h"
 #include "nd.h"
 
 static void namespace_io_release(struct device *dev)
@@ -1735,6 +1736,22 @@ struct nd_namespace_common *nvdimm_namespace_common_probe(struct device *dev)
 		return ERR_PTR(-ENODEV);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Note, alignment validation for fsdax and devdax mode
+	 * namespaces happens in nd_pfn_validate() where infoblock
+	 * padding parameters can be applied.
+	 */
+	if (pmem_should_map_pages(dev)) {
+		struct nd_namespace_io *nsio = to_nd_namespace_io(&ndns->dev);
+		struct resource *res = &nsio->res;
+
+		if (!IS_ALIGNED(res->start | (res->end + 1),
+					memremap_compat_align())) {
+			dev_err(&ndns->dev, "%pr misaligned, unable to map\n", res);
+			return ERR_PTR(-EOPNOTSUPP);
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (is_namespace_pmem(&ndns->dev)) {
 		struct nd_namespace_pmem *nspm;
 
diff --git a/drivers/nvdimm/pfn.h b/drivers/nvdimm/pfn.h
index acb19517f678..37cb1b8a2a39 100644
--- a/drivers/nvdimm/pfn.h
+++ b/drivers/nvdimm/pfn.h
@@ -24,6 +24,18 @@ struct nd_pfn_sb {
 	__le64 npfns;
 	__le32 mode;
 	/* minor-version-1 additions for section alignment */
+	/**
+	 * @start_pad: Deprecated attribute to pad start-misaligned namespaces
+	 *
+	 * start_pad is deprecated because the original definition did
+	 * not comprehend that dataoff is relative to the base address
+	 * of the namespace not the start_pad adjusted base. The result
+	 * is that the dax path is broken, but the block-I/O path is
+	 * not. The kernel will no longer create namespaces using start
+	 * padding, but it still supports block-I/O for legacy
+	 * configurations mainly to allow a backup, reconfigure the
+	 * namespace, and restore flow to repair dax operation.
+	 */
 	__le32 start_pad;
 	__le32 end_trunc;
 	/* minor-version-2 record the base alignment of the mapping */
diff --git a/drivers/nvdimm/pfn_devs.c b/drivers/nvdimm/pfn_devs.c
index 6e5b042f453e..18a2602d93e7 100644
--- a/drivers/nvdimm/pfn_devs.c
+++ b/drivers/nvdimm/pfn_devs.c
@@ -445,6 +445,7 @@ static bool nd_supported_alignment(unsigned long align)
 int nd_pfn_validate(struct nd_pfn *nd_pfn, const char *sig)
 {
 	u64 checksum, offset;
+	struct resource *res;
 	enum nd_pfn_mode mode;
 	struct nd_namespace_io *nsio;
 	unsigned long align, start_pad;
@@ -577,13 +578,14 @@ int nd_pfn_validate(struct nd_pfn *nd_pfn, const char *sig)
 	 * established.
 	 */
 	nsio = to_nd_namespace_io(&ndns->dev);
-	if (offset >= resource_size(&nsio->res)) {
+	res = &nsio->res;
+	if (offset >= resource_size(res)) {
 		dev_err(&nd_pfn->dev, "pfn array size exceeds capacity of %s\n",
 				dev_name(&ndns->dev));
 		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 	}
 
-	if ((align && !IS_ALIGNED(nsio->res.start + offset + start_pad, align))
+	if ((align && !IS_ALIGNED(res->start + offset + start_pad, align))
 			|| !IS_ALIGNED(offset, PAGE_SIZE)) {
 		dev_err(&nd_pfn->dev,
 				"bad offset: %#llx dax disabled align: %#lx\n",
@@ -591,6 +593,18 @@ int nd_pfn_validate(struct nd_pfn *nd_pfn, const char *sig)
 		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 	}
 
+	if (!IS_ALIGNED(res->start + le32_to_cpu(pfn_sb->start_pad),
+				memremap_compat_align())) {
+		dev_err(&nd_pfn->dev, "resource start misaligned\n");
+		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+	}
+
+	if (!IS_ALIGNED(res->end + 1 - le32_to_cpu(pfn_sb->end_trunc),
+				memremap_compat_align())) {
+		dev_err(&nd_pfn->dev, "resource end misaligned\n");
+		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+	}
+
 	return 0;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(nd_pfn_validate);
@@ -754,7 +768,19 @@ static int nd_pfn_init(struct nd_pfn *nd_pfn)
 	start = nsio->res.start;
 	size = resource_size(&nsio->res);
 	npfns = PHYS_PFN(size - SZ_8K);
-	align = max(nd_pfn->align, SUBSECTION_SIZE);
+	align = max(nd_pfn->align, memremap_compat_align());
+
+	/*
+	 * When @start is misaligned fail namespace creation. See
+	 * the 'struct nd_pfn_sb' commentary on why ->start_pad is not
+	 * an option.
+	 */
+	if (!IS_ALIGNED(start, memremap_compat_align())) {
+		dev_err(&nd_pfn->dev, "%s: start %pa misaligned to %#lx\n",
+				dev_name(&ndns->dev), &start,
+				memremap_compat_align());
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 	end_trunc = start + size - ALIGN_DOWN(start + size, align);
 	if (nd_pfn->mode == PFN_MODE_PMEM) {
 		/*
