diff --git a/drivers/net/stmmac/Kconfig b/drivers/net/stmmac/Kconfig
index b74e79b..cdbe5a8 100644
--- a/drivers/net/stmmac/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/net/stmmac/Kconfig
@@ -29,22 +29,28 @@ config STMMAC_DUAL_MAC
 	  Ethernet Controllers. This option turns on the second Ethernet
 	  device on this kind of platforms.
 
-config STMMAC_TIMER
+config STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 	bool "STMMAC Timer optimisation"
 	default n
 	help
 	  Use an external timer for mitigating the number of network
 	  interrupts. Currently, for SH architectures, it is possible
-	  to use the TMU channel 2 and the SH-RTC device.
+	  to use the TMU channel 2 (via Generic Timer) and the SH-RTC
+	  device. If the timer registration fails during the interface
+	  initialisation then the driver will work without any
+	  mitigation schema.
 
 choice
         prompt "Select Timer device"
-        depends on STMMAC_TIMER
+        depends on STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 
-config STMMAC_TMU_TIMER
-        bool "TMU channel 2"
-        depends on CPU_SH4
+config STMMAC_GEN_TIMER
+        bool "Generic External Timer"
+        depends on SH_TIMER_TMU
 	help
+	  Use the Generic timer for mitigating the interrupts.
+	  For example, in case of SUPERH the TMU channel 2
+	  is used for that.
 
 config STMMAC_RTC_TIMER
         bool "Real time clock"
diff --git a/drivers/net/stmmac/Makefile b/drivers/net/stmmac/Makefile
index 9691733..05d84b2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/stmmac/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/net/stmmac/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 obj-$(CONFIG_STMMAC_ETH) += stmmac.o
-stmmac-$(CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER) += stmmac_timer.o
+stmmac-$(CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER) += stmmac_timer.o
 stmmac-objs:= stmmac_main.o stmmac_ethtool.o stmmac_mdio.o	\
 	      dwmac_lib.o dwmac1000_core.o  dwmac1000_dma.o	\
 	      dwmac100_core.o dwmac100_dma.o enh_desc.o  norm_desc.o $(stmmac-y)
diff --git a/drivers/net/stmmac/common.h b/drivers/net/stmmac/common.h
index 375ea19..4bd9d01 100644
--- a/drivers/net/stmmac/common.h
+++ b/drivers/net/stmmac/common.h
@@ -43,6 +43,12 @@
 #undef FRAME_FILTER_DEBUG
 /* #define FRAME_FILTER_DEBUG */
 
+enum mitigation_timer {
+	no_timer = 0,
+	external = 1,
+	embedded = 2,
+};
+
 struct stmmac_extra_stats {
 	/* Transmit errors */
 	unsigned long tx_underflow ____cacheline_aligned;
diff --git a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac.h b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac.h
index 5f06c47..1b76977 100644
--- a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac.h
+++ b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #include <linux/stmmac.h>
 
 #include "common.h"
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 #include "stmmac_timer.h"
 #endif
 
@@ -77,9 +77,10 @@ struct stmmac_priv {
 	spinlock_t lock;
 	int wolopts;
 	int wolenabled;
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 	struct stmmac_timer *tm;
 #endif
+	unsigned int timer;
 #ifdef STMMAC_VLAN_TAG_USED
 	struct vlan_group *vlgrp;
 #endif
diff --git a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_main.c b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_main.c
index 26714b4..53a7086 100644
--- a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_main.c
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ MODULE_PARM_DESC(tc, "DMA threshold control value");
 /* Pay attention to tune this parameter; take care of both
  * hardware capability and network stabitily/performance impact.
  * Many tests showed that ~4ms latency seems to be good enough. */
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 #define DEFAULT_PERIODIC_RATE	256
 static int tmrate = DEFAULT_PERIODIC_RATE;
 module_param(tmrate, int, S_IRUGO | S_IWUSR);
@@ -415,9 +415,9 @@ static void init_dma_desc_rings(struct net_device *dev)
 	else
 		bfsize = DMA_BUFFER_SIZE;
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 	/* Disable interrupts on completion for the reception if timer is on */
-	if (likely(priv->tm->enable))
+	if (likely(priv->timer == external))
 		dis_ic = 1;
 #endif
 	/* If the MTU exceeds 8k so use the second buffer in the chain */
@@ -650,8 +650,8 @@ static void stmmac_tx(struct stmmac_priv *priv)
 
 static inline void stmmac_enable_irq(struct stmmac_priv *priv)
 {
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
-	if (likely(priv->tm->enable))
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
+	if (likely(priv->timer == external))
 		priv->tm->timer_start(priv->tm->timer_callb, tmrate);
 	else
 #endif
@@ -660,8 +660,8 @@ static inline void stmmac_enable_irq(struct stmmac_priv *priv)
 
 static inline void stmmac_disable_irq(struct stmmac_priv *priv)
 {
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
-	if (likely(priv->tm->enable))
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
+	if (likely(priv->timer == external))
 		priv->tm->timer_stop(priv->tm->timer_callb);
 	else
 #endif
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ static inline void _stmmac_schedule(struct stmmac_priv *priv)
 	}
 }
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 void stmmac_schedule(struct net_device *dev)
 {
 	struct stmmac_priv *priv = netdev_priv(dev);
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ static int stmmac_open(struct net_device *dev)
 		return ret;
 	}
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 	priv->tm = kzalloc(sizeof(struct stmmac_timer *), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (unlikely(priv->tm == NULL)) {
 		pr_err("%s: ERROR: timer memory alloc failed\n", __func__);
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ static int stmmac_open(struct net_device *dev)
 		priv->tm->timer_start = stmmac_no_timer_started;
 		priv->tm->timer_stop = stmmac_no_timer_stopped;
 	} else
-		priv->tm->enable = 1;
+		priv->timer = external;
 #endif
 
 	/* Create and initialize the TX/RX descriptors chains. */
@@ -863,8 +863,8 @@ static int stmmac_open(struct net_device *dev)
 	priv->hw->dma->start_tx(priv->ioaddr);
 	priv->hw->dma->start_rx(priv->ioaddr);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
-	if (likely(priv->tm->enable))
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
+	if (likely(priv->timer == external))
 		priv->tm->timer_start(priv->tm->timer_callb, tmrate);
 #endif
 	/* Dump DMA/MAC registers */
@@ -901,11 +901,13 @@ static int stmmac_release(struct net_device *dev)
 
 	netif_stop_queue(dev);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 	/* Stop and release the timer */
-	stmmac_close_ext_timer(priv->tm->timer_callb);
-	if (priv->tm != NULL)
+	if (priv->tm != NULL) {
+		if (likely(priv->timer == external))
+			stmmac_close_ext_timer(priv->tm->timer_callb);
 		kfree(priv->tm);
+	}
 #endif
 	napi_disable(&priv->napi);
 	skb_queue_purge(&priv->rx_recycle);
@@ -1096,9 +1098,9 @@ static netdev_tx_t stmmac_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	/* Interrupt on completition only for the latest segment */
 	priv->hw->desc->close_tx_desc(desc);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
-	/* Clean IC while using timer */
-	if (likely(priv->tm->enable))
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
+	/* Clean IC while using ext timer */
+	if (likely(priv->timer == external))
 		priv->hw->desc->clear_tx_ic(desc);
 #endif
 	/* To avoid raise condition */
@@ -1815,10 +1817,11 @@ static int stmmac_suspend(struct device *dev)
 	if (priv->phydev)
 		phy_stop(priv->phydev);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
-	priv->tm->timer_stop(priv->tm->timer_callb);
-	if (likely(priv->tm->enable))
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
+	if (likely(priv->timer == external)) {
+		priv->tm->timer_stop(priv->tm->timer_callb);
 		dis_ic = 1;
+	}
 #endif
 	napi_disable(&priv->napi);
 
@@ -1865,8 +1868,8 @@ static int stmmac_resume(struct device *dev)
 	priv->hw->dma->start_tx(priv->ioaddr);
 	priv->hw->dma->start_rx(priv->ioaddr);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
-	if (likely(priv->tm->enable))
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
+	if (likely(priv->timer == external))
 		priv->tm->timer_start(priv->tm->timer_callb, tmrate);
 #endif
 	napi_enable(&priv->napi);
@@ -1977,7 +1980,7 @@ static int __init stmmac_cmdline_opt(char *str)
 				       (unsigned long *)&flow_ctrl);
 		else if (!strncmp(opt, "pause:", 6))
 			strict_strtoul(opt + 6, 0, (unsigned long *)&pause);
-#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_TIMER
+#ifdef CONFIG_STMMAC_EXT_TIMER
 		else if (!strncmp(opt, "tmrate:", 7))
 			strict_strtoul(opt + 7, 0, (unsigned long *)&tmrate);
 #endif
diff --git a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.c b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.c
index 2481daa..e64db59 100644
--- a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.c
+++ b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.c
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ int stmmac_close_ext_timer(void *timer)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-#elif defined(CONFIG_STMMAC_TMU_TIMER)
+#elif defined(CONFIG_STMMAC_GEN_TIMER)
 #include <linux/generictimer.h>
 
 /* Set rate and start the timer */
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ int stmmac_open_ext_timer(struct net_device *dev, struct stmmac_timer *tm)
 	if (timer == NULL)
 		return -1;
 
-	STMMAC_TIMER_MSG(dev->name, "sh_tmu", tm->freq);
+	STMMAC_TIMER_MSG(dev->name, "Generic", tm->freq);
 
 	tm->timer_callb = timer;
 	tm->timer_start = stmmac_tmu_set_rate;
diff --git a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.h b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.h
index 250f5cb..d719bd5 100644
--- a/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.h
+++ b/drivers/net/stmmac/stmmac_timer.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ struct stmmac_timer {
 	void (*timer_start) (void *timer, unsigned int new_freq);
 	void (*timer_stop) (void *timer);
 	unsigned int freq;
-	unsigned int enable;
 	void *timer_callb;
 };
 
