diff --git a/src/mem/packet_queue.hh b/src/mem/packet_queue.hh
--- a/src/mem/packet_queue.hh
+++ b/src/mem/packet_queue.hh
@@ -89,6 +89,8 @@
     /** Event used to call processSendEvent. */
     EventWrapper<PacketQueue, &PacketQueue::processSendEvent> sendEvent;
 
+    bool disableSanityCheck;
+
   protected:
 
     /** Label to use for print request packets label stack. */
@@ -124,7 +126,8 @@
      * @param _em Event manager used for scheduling this queue
      * @param _label Label to push on the label stack for print request packets
      */
-    PacketQueue(EventManager& _em, const std::string& _label);
+    PacketQueue(EventManager& _em, const std::string& _label,
+                bool _disableSanityCheck=false);
 
     /**
      * Virtual desctructor since the class may be used as a base class.
# Node ID 9c34365138085dec84eee75ce57cf70701e66e67
# Parent  e9837c2c560433e447715b329ce1d3bfc2783fec
diff --git a/src/mem/packet_queue.cc b/src/mem/packet_queue.cc
--- a/src/mem/packet_queue.cc
+++ b/src/mem/packet_queue.cc
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-PacketQueue::PacketQueue(EventManager& _em, const std::string& _label)
-    : em(_em), sendEvent(this), label(_label),
-      waitingOnRetry(false)
+PacketQueue::PacketQueue(EventManager& _em, const std::string& _label,
+                         bool _disableSanityCheck)
+    : em(_em), sendEvent(this), disableSanityCheck(_disableSanityCheck),
+      label(_label), waitingOnRetry(false)
 {
 }
 
@@ -114,8 +115,8 @@
 
     // add a very basic sanity check on the port to ensure the
     // invisible buffer is not growing beyond reasonable limits
-    if (transmitList.size() > 100) {
-        panic("Packet queue %s has grown beyond 100 packets\n",
+    if (transmitList.size() > 100 && !disableSanityCheck) {
+        panic("Packet queue %s has grown beyond 10000 packets\n",
               name());
     }