diff --git a/hw/arm/armv7m.c b/hw/arm/armv7m.c
index 990861ee5e..fa4c2c735d 100644
--- a/hw/arm/armv7m.c
+++ b/hw/arm/armv7m.c
@@ -572,17 +572,10 @@ void armv7m_load_kernel(ARMCPU *cpu, const char *kernel_filename, int mem_size)
 {
     ssize_t image_size;
     uint64_t entry;
-    int big_endian;
     AddressSpace *as;
     int asidx;
     CPUState *cs = CPU(cpu);
 
-#if TARGET_BIG_ENDIAN
-    big_endian = 1;
-#else
-    big_endian = 0;
-#endif
-
     if (arm_feature(&cpu->env, ARM_FEATURE_EL3)) {
         asidx = ARMASIdx_S;
     } else {
@@ -593,7 +586,7 @@ void armv7m_load_kernel(ARMCPU *cpu, const char *kernel_filename, int mem_size)
     if (kernel_filename) {
         image_size = load_elf_as(kernel_filename, NULL, NULL, NULL,
                                  &entry, NULL, NULL,
-                                 NULL, big_endian, EM_ARM, 1, 0, as);
+                                 NULL, 0, EM_ARM, 1, 0, as);
         if (image_size < 0) {
             image_size = load_image_targphys_as(kernel_filename, 0,
                                                 mem_size, as);