diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig b/arch/x86/Kconfig
index eb40925..176950e 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig
@@ -230,6 +230,11 @@ config X86_32_LAZY_GS
 	def_bool y
 	depends on X86_32 && !CC_STACKPROTECTOR
 
+config ARCH_HWEIGHT_CFLAGS
+	string
+	default "-fcall-saved-ecx -fcall-saved-edx" if X86_32
+	default "-fcall-saved-rsi -fcall-saved-rdx -fcall-saved-rcx -fcall-saved-r8 -fcall-saved-r9 -fcall-saved-r10 -fcall-saved-r11" if X86_64
+
 config KTIME_SCALAR
 	def_bool X86_32
 source "init/Kconfig"
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/alternative.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/alternative.h
index 69b74a7..0720c96 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/alternative.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/alternative.h
@@ -39,9 +39,6 @@
 #define LOCK_PREFIX ""
 #endif
 
-/* This must be included *after* the definition of LOCK_PREFIX */
-#include <asm/cpufeature.h>
-
 struct alt_instr {
 	u8 *instr;		/* original instruction */
 	u8 *replacement;
@@ -91,6 +88,12 @@ static inline void alternatives_smp_switch(int smp) {}
       ".previous"
 
 /*
+ * This must be included *after* the definition of ALTERNATIVE due to
+ * <asm/arch_hweight.h>
+ */
+#include <asm/cpufeature.h>
+
+/*
  * Alternative instructions for different CPU types or capabilities.
  *
  * This allows to use optimized instructions even on generic binary
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/arch_hweight.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/arch_hweight.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eaefadc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/arch_hweight.h
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#ifndef _ASM_X86_HWEIGHT_H
+#define _ASM_X86_HWEIGHT_H
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_64BIT
+/* popcnt %rdi, %rax */
+#define POPCNT ".byte 0xf3,0x48,0x0f,0xb8,0xc7"
+#define REG_IN "D"
+#define REG_OUT "a"
+#else
+/* popcnt %eax, %eax */
+#define POPCNT ".byte 0xf3,0x0f,0xb8,0xc0"
+#define REG_IN "a"
+#define REG_OUT "a"
+#endif
+
+/*
+ * __sw_hweightXX are called from within the alternatives below
+ * and callee-clobbered registers need to be taken care of. See
+ * ARCH_HWEIGHT_CFLAGS in <arch/x86/Kconfig> for the respective
+ * compiler switches.
+ */
+static inline unsigned int __arch_hweight32(unsigned int w)
+{
+	unsigned int res = 0;
+
+	asm (ALTERNATIVE("call __sw_hweight32", POPCNT, X86_FEATURE_POPCNT)
+		     : "="REG_OUT (res)
+		     : REG_IN (w));
+
+	return res;
+}
+
+static inline unsigned int __arch_hweight16(unsigned int w)
+{
+	return __arch_hweight32(w & 0xffff);
+}
+
+static inline unsigned int __arch_hweight8(unsigned int w)
+{
+	return __arch_hweight32(w & 0xff);
+}
+
+static inline unsigned long __arch_hweight64(__u64 w)
+{
+	unsigned long res = 0;
+	/* tell gcc that %rdi is clobbered as an input operand */
+	unsigned long dummy;
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_X86_32
+	return  __arch_hweight32((u32)w) +
+		__arch_hweight32((u32)(w >> 32));
+#else
+	asm (ALTERNATIVE("call __sw_hweight64", POPCNT, X86_FEATURE_POPCNT)
+		     : "="REG_OUT (res), "="REG_IN (dummy)
+		     : REG_IN (w));
+#endif /* CONFIG_X86_32 */
+
+	return res;
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/bitops.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/bitops.h
index 02b47a6..545776e 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/bitops.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/bitops.h
@@ -444,7 +444,9 @@ static inline int fls(int x)
 
 #define ARCH_HAS_FAST_MULTIPLIER 1
 
-#include <asm-generic/bitops/hweight.h>
+#include <asm/arch_hweight.h>
+
+#include <asm-generic/bitops/const_hweight.h>
 
 #endif /* __KERNEL__ */
 
diff --git a/include/asm-generic/bitops/arch_hweight.h b/include/asm-generic/bitops/arch_hweight.h
index 3a7be84..9a81c1e 100644
--- a/include/asm-generic/bitops/arch_hweight.h
+++ b/include/asm-generic/bitops/arch_hweight.h
@@ -3,9 +3,23 @@
 
 #include <asm/types.h>
 
-extern unsigned int __arch_hweight32(unsigned int w);
-extern unsigned int __arch_hweight16(unsigned int w);
-extern unsigned int __arch_hweight8(unsigned int w);
-extern unsigned long __arch_hweight64(__u64 w);
+inline unsigned int __arch_hweight32(unsigned int w)
+{
+	return __sw_hweight32(w);
+}
 
+inline unsigned int __arch_hweight16(unsigned int w)
+{
+	return __sw_hweight16(w);
+}
+
+inline unsigned int __arch_hweight8(unsigned int w)
+{
+	return __sw_hweight8(w);
+}
+
+inline unsigned long __arch_hweight64(__u64 w)
+{
+	return __sw_hweight64(w);
+}
 #endif /* _ASM_GENERIC_BITOPS_HWEIGHT_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/Makefile b/lib/Makefile
index 3b0b4a6..e2ad17c 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile
+++ b/lib/Makefile
@@ -39,7 +39,10 @@ lib-$(CONFIG_RWSEM_XCHGADD_ALGORITHM) += rwsem.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_GENERIC_FIND_FIRST_BIT) += find_next_bit.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_GENERIC_FIND_NEXT_BIT) += find_next_bit.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_GENERIC_FIND_LAST_BIT) += find_last_bit.o
+
+CFLAGS_hweight.o = $(subst $(quote),,$(CONFIG_ARCH_HWEIGHT_CFLAGS))
 obj-$(CONFIG_GENERIC_HWEIGHT) += hweight.o
+
 obj-$(CONFIG_LOCK_KERNEL) += kernel_lock.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_DEBUG_PREEMPT) += smp_processor_id.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_DEBUG_LIST) += list_debug.o
diff --git a/lib/hweight.c b/lib/hweight.c
index 9ff86df..f9ce440 100644
--- a/lib/hweight.c
+++ b/lib/hweight.c
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  * The Hamming Weight of a number is the total number of bits set in it.
  */
 
-unsigned int __arch_hweight32(unsigned int w)
+unsigned int __sw_hweight32(unsigned int w)
 {
 	unsigned int res = w - ((w >> 1) & 0x55555555);
 	res = (res & 0x33333333) + ((res >> 2) & 0x33333333);
@@ -17,30 +17,30 @@ unsigned int __arch_hweight32(unsigned int w)
 	res = res + (res >> 8);
 	return (res + (res >> 16)) & 0x000000FF;
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(__arch_hweight32);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(__sw_hweight32);
 
-unsigned int __arch_hweight16(unsigned int w)
+unsigned int __sw_hweight16(unsigned int w)
 {
 	unsigned int res = w - ((w >> 1) & 0x5555);
 	res = (res & 0x3333) + ((res >> 2) & 0x3333);
 	res = (res + (res >> 4)) & 0x0F0F;
 	return (res + (res >> 8)) & 0x00FF;
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(__arch_hweight16);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(__sw_hweight16);
 
-unsigned int __arch_hweight8(unsigned int w)
+unsigned int __sw_hweight8(unsigned int w)
 {
 	unsigned int res = w - ((w >> 1) & 0x55);
 	res = (res & 0x33) + ((res >> 2) & 0x33);
 	return (res + (res >> 4)) & 0x0F;
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(__arch_hweight8);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(__sw_hweight8);
 
-unsigned long __arch_hweight64(__u64 w)
+unsigned long __sw_hweight64(__u64 w)
 {
 #if BITS_PER_LONG == 32
-	return __arch_hweight32((unsigned int)(w >> 32)) +
-	       __arch_hweight32((unsigned int)w);
+	return __sw_hweight32((unsigned int)(w >> 32)) +
+	       __sw_hweight32((unsigned int)w);
 #elif BITS_PER_LONG == 64
 #ifdef ARCH_HAS_FAST_MULTIPLIER
 	w -= (w >> 1) & 0x5555555555555555ul;
@@ -57,4 +57,4 @@ unsigned long __arch_hweight64(__u64 w)
 #endif
 #endif
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(__arch_hweight64);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(__sw_hweight64);
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.lib b/scripts/Makefile.lib
index f9bdf26..cbcd654 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.lib
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.lib
@@ -245,3 +245,7 @@ quiet_cmd_lzo = LZO    $@
 cmd_lzo = (cat $(filter-out FORCE,$^) | \
 	lzop -9 && $(call size_append, $(filter-out FORCE,$^))) > $@ || \
 	(rm -f $@ ; false)
+
+# misc stuff
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+quote:="
