diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index f742c0a43..03c09cf1b 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2009-03-30  Robert Millan  <rmh@aybabtu.com>
+
+	* loader/i386/linux.c (grub_cmd_linux): Check for zImage before
+	checking for abi version.  Improve error messages on BIOS to notify
+	user about `linux16' command.
+
 2009-03-29  Vladimir Serbinenko  <phcoder@gmail.com>
 
 	Leak fixes
diff --git a/loader/i386/linux.c b/loader/i386/linux.c
index 9deb40ff1..33b6d8659 100644
--- a/loader/i386/linux.c
+++ b/loader/i386/linux.c
@@ -492,18 +492,26 @@ grub_cmd_linux (grub_command_t cmd __attribute__ ((unused)),
       goto fail;
     }
 
-  /* FIXME: Is 2.02 recent enough for 32-bit boot?  */
-  if (lh.header != grub_cpu_to_le32 (GRUB_LINUX_MAGIC_SIGNATURE)
-      || grub_le_to_cpu16 (lh.version) < 0x0203)
+  if (! (lh.loadflags & GRUB_LINUX_FLAG_BIG_KERNEL))
     {
-      grub_error (GRUB_ERR_BAD_OS, "too old version");
+      grub_error (GRUB_ERR_BAD_OS, "zImage doesn't support 32-bit boot"
+#ifdef GRUB_MACHINE_PCBIOS
+		  " (try with `linux16')"
+#endif
+		  );
       goto fail;
     }
 
-  /* zImage doesn't support 32-bit boot.  */
-  if (! (lh.loadflags & GRUB_LINUX_FLAG_BIG_KERNEL))
+  /* FIXME: 2.03 is not always good enough (Linux 2.4 can be 2.03 and
+     still not support 32-bit boot.  */
+  if (lh.header != grub_cpu_to_le32 (GRUB_LINUX_MAGIC_SIGNATURE)
+      || grub_le_to_cpu16 (lh.version) < 0x0203)
     {
-      grub_error (GRUB_ERR_BAD_OS, "zImage is not supported");
+      grub_error (GRUB_ERR_BAD_OS, "version too old for 32-bit boot"
+#ifdef GRUB_MACHINE_PCBIOS
+		  " (try with `linux16')"
+#endif
+		  );
       goto fail;
     }