# How to compile the 16-bit code.  Note we always compile for -march=i386;
 # that way we can complain to the user if the CPU is insufficient.
-REALMODE_CFLAGS        := -m32 -g -Os -D__KERNEL__ -DDISABLE_BRANCH_PROFILING \
+#
+# The -m16 option is supported by GCC >= 4.9 and clang >= 3.5. For
+# older versions of GCC, we need to play evil and unreliable tricks to
+# attempt to ensure that our asm(".code16gcc") is first in the asm
+# output.
+CODE16GCC_CFLAGS := -m32 -include $(srctree)/arch/x86/boot/code16gcc.h \
+                   $(call cc-option, -fno-toplevel-reorder,\
+                     $(call cc-option, -fno-unit-at-a-time))
+M16_CFLAGS      := $(call cc-option, -m16, $(CODE16GCC_CFLAGS))
+
+REALMODE_CFLAGS        := $(M16_CFLAGS) -g -Os -D__KERNEL__ \
+                  -DDISABLE_BRANCH_PROFILING \
                   -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -march=i386 -mregparm=3 \
-                  -include $(srctree)/arch/x86/boot/code16gcc.h \
                   -fno-strict-aliasing -fomit-frame-pointer -fno-pic \
                   -mno-mmx -mno-sse \
                   $(call cc-option, -ffreestanding) \
-                  $(call cc-option, -fno-toplevel-reorder,\
-                  $(call cc-option, -fno-unit-at-a-time)) \
                   $(call cc-option, -fno-stack-protector) \
                   $(call cc-option, -mpreferred-stack-boundary=2)
 export REALMODE_CFLAGS