diff --git a/sys/conf/kern.mk b/sys/conf/kern.mk
index c56f79661077..3cf3d94e1d04 100644
--- a/sys/conf/kern.mk
+++ b/sys/conf/kern.mk
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ CWARNEXTRA?=	-Wno-error-tautological-compare -Wno-error-empty-body \
 		-Wno-error-pointer-sign -Wno-error-format -Wno-error-parentheses
 .endif
 
-.if ${COMPILER_TYPE} == "gcc" && ${COMPILER_VERSION} >= 40300
+.if ${COMPILER_TYPE} == "gcc"
+.if ${COMPILER_VERSION} >= 40300
 # Catch-all for all the things that are in our tree, but for which we're
 # not yet ready for this compiler. Note: we likely only really "support"
 # building with gcc 4.8 and newer. Nothing older has been tested.
@@ -40,6 +41,10 @@ CWARNEXTRA?=	-Wno-error=inline -Wno-error=enum-compare -Wno-error=unused-but-set
 		-Wno-error=array-bounds -Wno-error=address \
 		-Wno-error=cast-qual -Wno-error=sequence-point -Wno-error=attributes \
 		-Wno-error=strict-overflow -Wno-error=overflow
+.else
+# For gcc 4.2, eliminate the too-often-wrong warnings about uninitialized vars.
+CWARNEXTRA?=	-Wno-uninitialized
+.endif
 .endif
 
 # External compilers may not support our format extensions.  Allow them