diff --git a/irq_balancer b/irq_balancer
index 73817d7..96f699e 100644
--- a/irq_balancer
+++ b/irq_balancer
@@ -28,6 +28,30 @@ IRQBALANCE_BIN=/usr/sbin/irqbalance
 test -x $IRQBALANCE_BIN || exit 5
 PROC=$(grep -c '^processor' /proc/cpuinfo)
 
+#
+# Checks if the irq balancer should be started at all on that system.
+# Returns 0 if the balancer should be started, 1 otherwise.
+should_start_irqbalance()
+{
+    # don't start on 1 core systems
+    # still check the number of processors here althought the irq
+    # balancer terminates automatically if number_cpus == 0
+    # simply to provide a better user output ('unused' vs. 'done')
+    if [ $PROC -le 1 ] ; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # don't start on IA64 SGI SN2 systems (bnc#441505)
+    if [ "$(uname -m)" = ia64 ] && [ -f /proc/sgi_sn/system_serial_number ] ; then
+        logger -t irq_balancer "Not starting irqbalance because we're running on a SGI SN2 system"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # start on any other case
+    return 0
+}
+
+
 . /etc/rc.status
 . /etc/sysconfig/irqbalance
 
@@ -50,14 +74,12 @@ case "$1" in
     start)
 	echo -n "Starting irqbalance "
 
-        # still check the number of processors here althought the irq
-        # balancer terminates automatically if number_cpus == 0
-        # simply to provide a better user output ('unused' vs. 'done')
-        if [ $PROC -gt 1 ] ; then
+        if should_start_irqbalance ; then
 	    startproc $IRQBALANCE_BIN
 	    # Remember status and be verbose
 	    rc_status -v
 	else
+            # unused
 	    rc_status -u
 	fi
 	;;
diff --git a/irqbalance.changes b/irqbalance.changes
index c0bed0d..f77663e 100644
--- a/irqbalance.changes
+++ b/irqbalance.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Wed Nov  5 22:14:13 CET 2008 - bwalle@suse.de
+
+- Don't start the irqbalance on IA64 SGI SN2 systems (bnc#441505).
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Fri Aug 15 22:44:13 CEST 2008 - bwalle@suse.de
 
diff --git a/irqbalance.spec b/irqbalance.spec
index 4b6b056..756ac0f 100644
--- a/irqbalance.spec
+++ b/irqbalance.spec
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Group:          System/Daemons
 AutoReqProv:    on
 PreReq:         %insserv_prereq
 Version:        0.55
-Release:        106
+Release:        120
 Summary:        Balance IRQs on SMP Machines
 Source:         %{name}-%{version}.tar.bz2
 Source1:        irqbalance.pod
@@ -92,9 +92,11 @@ rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 /var/adm/fillup-templates/sysconfig.irqbalance
 
 %changelog
-* Sat Aug 16 2008 bwalle@suse.de
+* Wed Nov 05 2008 bwalle@suse.de
+- Don't start the irqbalance on IA64 SGI SN2 systems (bnc#441505).
+* Fri Aug 15 2008 bwalle@suse.de
 - add "Required-Stop" to fix rpmlint error
-* Wed Dec 12 2007 bwalle@suse.de
+* Tue Dec 11 2007 bwalle@suse.de
 - add /etc/sysconfig/irqbalance configuration file for
   IRQBALANCE_ONESHOT, IRQBALANCE_BANNED_CPUS and
   IRQBALANCE_BANNED_INTERRUPTS configuration (#342593)
@@ -103,7 +105,7 @@ rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 - remove special handling of timer interrupt and dual core
   systems from init script because the new irq balancer does
   that automatically
-* Mon Apr 16 2007 bwalle@suse.de
+* Sun Apr 15 2007 bwalle@suse.de
 - wrote manpage for irqbalance
 * Wed Apr 11 2007 bwalle@suse.de
 - updated to irqbalance.org 0.55
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 - don't build as root
 * Fri Sep 02 2005 ro@suse.de
 - rcscript: ignore on machines with < 2 CPUs
-* Tue Jun 21 2005 ro@suse.de
+* Mon Jun 20 2005 ro@suse.de
 - build with fPIE/pie
 * Mon Feb 16 2004 sf@suse.de
 - update to 0.09