diff --git a/fs/ext2/Config.in b/fs/ext2/Config.in
index 4451d0797f..7d42621202 100644
--- a/fs/ext2/Config.in
+++ b/fs/ext2/Config.in
@@ -85,7 +85,8 @@ config BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_RESBLKS
 
 config BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_MKFS_OPTIONS
 	string "additional mke2fs options"
-	default "-O ^64bit"
+	# Note: ext2 rev0 does not support filesystem options.
+	default "-O ^64bit" if !BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_2r0
 	help
 	  Specify a space-separated list of mke2fs options, including
 	  any ext2/3/4 filesystem features.
@@ -100,7 +101,8 @@ config BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_MKFS_OPTIONS
 	  support. This default value has been chosen because U-Boot
 	  versions before 2017.02 don't support this filesystem
 	  option: using it may make the filesystem unreadable by
-	  U-Boot.
+	  U-Boot. Note: this default does not apply to the old ext2
+	  (rev0) which does not support filesystem options.
 
 choice
 	prompt "Compression method"
diff --git a/fs/ext2/ext2.mk b/fs/ext2/ext2.mk
index e69e79cd2e..b49a8456f4 100644
--- a/fs/ext2/ext2.mk
+++ b/fs/ext2/ext2.mk
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ ROOTFS_EXT2_LABEL = $(subst ",,$(BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_LABEL))
 
 ROOTFS_EXT2_OPTS = \
 	-d $(TARGET_DIR) \
-	-r $(BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_REV) \
+	-E revision=$(BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_REV) \
 	-N $(BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_INODES) \
 	-m $(BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_RESBLKS) \
 	-L "$(ROOTFS_EXT2_LABEL)" \