diff --git a/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base b/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base
index 4d9e38077d..5ca3f6a1a2 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base
+++ b/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ CONFIG_ESP32_XTAL_FREQ_AUTO=y
 # Power Management
 CONFIG_PM_ENABLE=y
 
+# Memory protection
+# This is required to allow allocating IRAM
+CONFIG_ESP_SYSTEM_MEMPROT_FEATURE=n
+
 # FreeRTOS
 CONFIG_FREERTOS_THREAD_LOCAL_STORAGE_POINTERS=2
 CONFIG_FREERTOS_SUPPORT_STATIC_ALLOCATION=y