diff --git a/docs/cpu-specific-build-macros.rst b/docs/cpu-specific-build-macros.rst
index 9e11cdf..65f6adb 100644
--- a/docs/cpu-specific-build-macros.rst
+++ b/docs/cpu-specific-build-macros.rst
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@
 vulnerability workarounds should be applied at runtime.
 
 -  ``WORKAROUND_CVE_2017_5715``: Enables the security workaround for
-   `CVE-2017-5715`_. Defaults to 1.
+   `CVE-2017-5715`_. This flag can be set to 0 by the platform if none
+   of the PEs in the system need the workaround. Setting this flag to 0 provides
+   no performance benefit for non-affected platforms, it just helps to comply
+   with the recommendation in the spec regarding workaround discovery.
+   Defaults to 1.
 
 CPU Errata Workarounds
 ----------------------
diff --git a/services/arm_arch_svc/arm_arch_svc_setup.c b/services/arm_arch_svc/arm_arch_svc_setup.c
index 83d3625..eb736c0 100644
--- a/services/arm_arch_svc/arm_arch_svc_setup.c
+++ b/services/arm_arch_svc/arm_arch_svc_setup.c
@@ -19,19 +19,16 @@
 
 static int32_t smccc_arch_features(u_register_t arg)
 {
-	int ret;
-
 	switch (arg) {
 	case SMCCC_VERSION:
 	case SMCCC_ARCH_FEATURES:
 		return SMC_OK;
+#if WORKAROUND_CVE_2017_5715
 	case SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1:
-		ret = check_workaround_cve_2017_5715();
-		if (ret == ERRATA_APPLIES)
-			return 0;
-		else if (ret == ERRATA_NOT_APPLIES)
+		if (check_workaround_cve_2017_5715() == ERRATA_NOT_APPLIES)
 			return 1;
-		return -1; /* ERRATA_MISSING */
+		return 0; /* ERRATA_APPLIES || ERRATA_MISSING */
+#endif
 	default:
 		return SMC_UNK;
 	}