diff --git a/sys/dev/md/md.c b/sys/dev/md/md.c
--- a/sys/dev/md/md.c
+++ b/sys/dev/md/md.c
@@ -278,7 +278,9 @@
 		/* MD_PRELOAD related fields */
 		struct {
 			u_char *pl_ptr;
+			vm_paddr_t pl_phys;
 			size_t pl_len;
+			bool mapped;
 			char name[PATH_MAX];
 		} s_preload;
 
@@ -820,7 +822,8 @@
 }
 
 static void
-mdcopyto_vlist(void *src, bus_dma_segment_t *vlist, off_t offset, off_t len)
+mdcopyto_vlist(struct md_s *sc, void *src, vm_paddr_t psrc,
+    bus_dma_segment_t *vlist, off_t offset, off_t len)
 {
 	off_t seg_len;
 
@@ -831,8 +834,14 @@
 
 	while (len != 0) {
 		seg_len = omin(len, vlist->ds_len - offset);
-		bcopy(src, (void *)(uintptr_t)(vlist->ds_addr + offset),
-		    seg_len);
+		if (sc->s_preload.mapped) {
+			bcopy(src, (void *)(uintptr_t)(vlist->ds_addr + offset),
+			    seg_len);
+		} else {
+			physcopyout(psrc,
+			    (void *)(uintptr_t)(vlist->ds_addr + offset),
+			    seg_len);
+		}
 		offset = 0;
 		src = (uint8_t *)src + seg_len;
 		len -= seg_len;
@@ -841,7 +850,8 @@
 }
 
 static void
-mdcopyfrom_vlist(bus_dma_segment_t *vlist, off_t offset, void *dst, off_t len)
+mdcopyfrom_vlist(struct md_s *sc, bus_dma_segment_t *vlist, off_t offset,
+    void *dst, vm_paddr_t pdst, off_t len)
 {
 	off_t seg_len;
 
@@ -852,8 +862,13 @@
 
 	while (len != 0) {
 		seg_len = omin(len, vlist->ds_len - offset);
-		bcopy((void *)(uintptr_t)(vlist->ds_addr + offset), dst,
-		    seg_len);
+		if (sc->s_preload.mapped) {
+			bcopy((void *)(uintptr_t)(vlist->ds_addr + offset),
+			    dst, seg_len);
+		} else {
+			physcopyin((void *)(uintptr_t)(vlist->ds_addr + offset),
+			    pdst, seg_len);
+		}
 		offset = 0;
 		dst = (uint8_t *)dst + seg_len;
 		len -= seg_len;
@@ -864,25 +879,36 @@
 static int
 mdstart_preload(struct md_s *sc, struct bio *bp)
 {
-	uint8_t *p;
+	uint8_t *p = 0;
+	vm_paddr_t phys = 0;
 
-	p = sc->s.s_preload.pl_ptr + bp->bio_offset;
+	if (sc->s_preload.mapped)
+		p = sc->s_preload.pl_ptr + bp->bio_offset;
+	else
+		phys = sc->s_preload.pl_phys + bp->bio_offset;
 	switch (bp->bio_cmd) {
 	case BIO_READ:
 		if ((bp->bio_flags & BIO_VLIST) != 0) {
-			mdcopyto_vlist(p, (bus_dma_segment_t *)bp->bio_data,
+			mdcopyto_vlist(sc, p, phys,
+			    (bus_dma_segment_t *)bp->bio_data,
 			    bp->bio_ma_offset, bp->bio_length);
 		} else {
-			bcopy(p, bp->bio_data, bp->bio_length);
+			if (sc->s_preload.mapped)
+				bcopy(p, bp->bio_data, bp->bio_length);
+			else
+				physcopyout(phys, bp->bio_data, bp->bio_length);
 		}
 		cpu_flush_dcache(bp->bio_data, bp->bio_length);
 		break;
 	case BIO_WRITE:
 		if ((bp->bio_flags & BIO_VLIST) != 0) {
-			mdcopyfrom_vlist((bus_dma_segment_t *)bp->bio_data,
-			    bp->bio_ma_offset, p, bp->bio_length);
+			mdcopyfrom_vlist(sc, (bus_dma_segment_t *)bp->bio_data,
+			    bp->bio_ma_offset, p, phys, bp->bio_length);
 		} else {
-			bcopy(bp->bio_data, p, bp->bio_length);
+			if (sc->s_preload.mapped)
+				bcopy(bp->bio_data, p, bp->bio_length);
+			else
+				physcopyin(bp->bio_data, phys, bp->bio_length);
 		}
 		break;
 	}
@@ -2034,7 +2060,8 @@
 }
 
 static void
-md_preloaded(u_char *image, size_t length, const char *name)
+md_preloaded(u_char *image, vm_paddr_t pimage, size_t length,
+    const char *name, bool mapped)
 {
 	struct md_s *sc;
 	int error;
@@ -2044,8 +2071,10 @@
 		return;
 	sc->mediasize = length;
 	sc->sectorsize = DEV_BSIZE;
-	sc->s.s_preload.pl_ptr = image;
-	sc->s.s_preload.pl_len = length;
+	sc->s_preload.pl_ptr = image;
+	sc->s_preload.pl_phys = pimage;
+	sc->s_preload.pl_len = length;
+	sc->s_preload.mapped = mapped;
 	sc->start = mdstart_preload;
 	if (name != NULL)
 		strlcpy(sc->s_preload.name, name,
@@ -2112,7 +2141,7 @@
 		len = preload_fetch_size(mod);
 		if (ptr != NULL && len != 0) {
 			sx_xlock(&md_sx);
-			md_preloaded(ptr, len, name);
+			md_preloaded(ptr, 0, len, name, true);
 			sx_xunlock(&md_sx);
 		}
 	}