diff --git a/subsys/fs/nvs/Kconfig b/subsys/fs/nvs/Kconfig
index 8b7dfdbab40..208be140f22 100644
--- a/subsys/fs/nvs/Kconfig
+++ b/subsys/fs/nvs/Kconfig
@@ -37,6 +37,14 @@ config NVS_DATA_CRC
 	  The CRC-32 is transparently stored at the end of the data field,
 	  in the NVS data section, so 4 more bytes are needed per NVS element.
 
+config NVS_INIT_BAD_MEMORY_REGION
+	bool "Non-volatile Storage bad memory region recovery"
+	help
+	  Enable automatic initialization of a NVS on a memory region that does
+	  not contain a valid NVS. A region containing an invalid NVS can be
+	  caused by corruption or by providing a non-empty region. This option
+	  ensures a new NVS can be created.
+
 module = NVS
 module-str = nvs
 source "subsys/logging/Kconfig.template.log_config"
diff --git a/subsys/fs/nvs/nvs.c b/subsys/fs/nvs/nvs.c
index e45e93e1982..2c7c4ff5606 100644
--- a/subsys/fs/nvs/nvs.c
+++ b/subsys/fs/nvs/nvs.c
@@ -781,10 +781,23 @@ static int nvs_startup(struct nvs_fs *fs)
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	/* all sectors are closed, this is not a nvs fs */
+	/* all sectors are closed, this is not a nvs fs or irreparably corrupted */
 	if (closed_sectors == fs->sector_count) {
+#ifdef CONFIG_NVS_INIT_BAD_MEMORY_REGION
+		LOG_WRN("All sectors closed, erasing all sectors...");
+		rc = flash_flatten(fs->flash_device, fs->offset,
+				   fs->sector_size * fs->sector_count);
+		if (rc) {
+			goto end;
+		}
+
+		i = fs->sector_count;
+		addr = ((fs->sector_count - 1) << ADDR_SECT_SHIFT) +
+		       (uint16_t)(fs->sector_size - ate_size);
+#else
 		rc = -EDEADLK;
 		goto end;
+#endif
 	}
 
 	if (i == fs->sector_count) {