diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
index bd8056b5b246..6842154813e5 100644
--- a/arch/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/Kconfig
@@ -461,6 +461,12 @@ config CC_STACKPROTECTOR_STRONG
 
 endchoice
 
+config THIN_ARCHIVES
+	bool
+	help
+	  Select this if the architecture wants to use thin archives
+	  instead of ld -r to create the built-in.o files.
+
 config HAVE_CONTEXT_TRACKING
 	bool
 	help
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.build b/scripts/Makefile.build
index cd9bf22bb027..de46ab03f063 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.build
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.build
@@ -359,12 +359,22 @@ $(sort $(subdir-obj-y)): $(subdir-ym) ;
 # Rule to compile a set of .o files into one .o file
 #
 ifdef builtin-target
-quiet_cmd_link_o_target = LD      $@
+
+ifdef CONFIG_THIN_ARCHIVES
+  cmd_make_builtin = rm -f $@; $(AR) rcST$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS)
+  cmd_make_empty_builtin = rm -f $@; $(AR) rcST$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS)
+  quiet_cmd_link_o_target = AR      $@
+else
+  cmd_make_builtin = $(LD) $(ld_flags) -r -o
+  cmd_make_empty_builtin = rm -f $@; $(AR) rcs$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS)
+  quiet_cmd_link_o_target = LD      $@
+endif
+
 # If the list of objects to link is empty, just create an empty built-in.o
 cmd_link_o_target = $(if $(strip $(obj-y)),\
-		      $(LD) $(ld_flags) -r -o $@ $(filter $(obj-y), $^) \
+		      $(cmd_make_builtin) $@ $(filter $(obj-y), $^) \
 		      $(cmd_secanalysis),\
-		      rm -f $@; $(AR) rcs$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS) $@)
+		      $(cmd_make_empty_builtin) $@)
 
 $(builtin-target): $(obj-y) FORCE
 	$(call if_changed,link_o_target)
@@ -390,7 +400,12 @@ $(modorder-target): $(subdir-ym) FORCE
 #
 ifdef lib-target
 quiet_cmd_link_l_target = AR      $@
-cmd_link_l_target = rm -f $@; $(AR) rcs$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS) $@ $(lib-y)
+
+ifdef CONFIG_THIN_ARCHIVES
+  cmd_link_l_target = rm -f $@; $(AR) rcsT$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS) $@ $(lib-y)
+else
+  cmd_link_l_target = rm -f $@; $(AR) rcs$(KBUILD_ARFLAGS) $@ $(lib-y)
+endif
 
 $(lib-target): $(lib-y) FORCE
 	$(call if_changed,link_l_target)
diff --git a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
index 4f727eb5ec43..f742c65108b9 100755
--- a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
+++ b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
@@ -37,12 +37,40 @@ info()
 	fi
 }
 
+# Thin archive build here makes a final archive with
+# symbol table and indexes from vmlinux objects, which can be
+# used as input to linker.
+#
+# Traditional incremental style of link does not require this step
+#
+# built-in.o output file
+#
+archive_builtin()
+{
+	if [ -n "${CONFIG_THIN_ARCHIVES}" ]; then
+		info AR built-in.o
+		rm -f built-in.o;
+		${AR} rcsT${KBUILD_ARFLAGS} built-in.o			\
+					${KBUILD_VMLINUX_INIT}		\
+					${KBUILD_VMLINUX_MAIN}
+	fi
+}
+
 # Link of vmlinux.o used for section mismatch analysis
 # ${1} output file
 modpost_link()
 {
-	${LD} ${LDFLAGS} -r -o ${1} ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_INIT}                   \
-		--start-group ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_MAIN} --end-group
+	local objects
+
+	if [ -n "${CONFIG_THIN_ARCHIVES}" ]; then
+		objects="--whole-archive built-in.o"
+	else
+		objects="${KBUILD_VMLINUX_INIT}				\
+			--start-group					\
+			${KBUILD_VMLINUX_MAIN}				\
+			--end-group"
+	fi
+	${LD} ${LDFLAGS} -r -o ${1} ${objects}
 }
 
 # Link of vmlinux
@@ -51,18 +79,36 @@ modpost_link()
 vmlinux_link()
 {
 	local lds="${objtree}/${KBUILD_LDS}"
+	local objects
 
 	if [ "${SRCARCH}" != "um" ]; then
-		${LD} ${LDFLAGS} ${LDFLAGS_vmlinux} -o ${2}                  \
-			-T ${lds} ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_INIT}                     \
-			--start-group ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_MAIN} --end-group ${1}
+		if [ -n "${CONFIG_THIN_ARCHIVES}" ]; then
+			objects="--whole-archive built-in.o ${1}"
+		else
+			objects="${KBUILD_VMLINUX_INIT}			\
+				--start-group				\
+				${KBUILD_VMLINUX_MAIN}			\
+				--end-group				\
+				${1}"
+		fi
+
+		${LD} ${LDFLAGS} ${LDFLAGS_vmlinux} -o ${2}		\
+			-T ${lds} ${objects}
 	else
-		${CC} ${CFLAGS_vmlinux} -o ${2}                              \
-			-Wl,-T,${lds} ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_INIT}                 \
-			-Wl,--start-group                                    \
-				 ${KBUILD_VMLINUX_MAIN}                      \
-			-Wl,--end-group                                      \
-			-lutil -lrt -lpthread ${1}
+		if [ -n "${CONFIG_THIN_ARCHIVES}" ]; then
+			objects="-Wl,--whole-archive built-in.o ${1}"
+		else
+			objects="${KBUILD_VMLINUX_INIT}			\
+				-Wl,--start-group			\
+				${KBUILD_VMLINUX_MAIN}			\
+				-Wl,--end-group				\
+				${1}"
+		fi
+
+		${CC} ${CFLAGS_vmlinux} -o ${2}				\
+			-Wl,-T,${lds}					\
+			${objects}					\
+			-lutil -lrt -lpthread
 		rm -f linux
 	fi
 }
@@ -119,6 +165,7 @@ cleanup()
 	rm -f .tmp_kallsyms*
 	rm -f .tmp_version
 	rm -f .tmp_vmlinux*
+	rm -f built-in.o
 	rm -f System.map
 	rm -f vmlinux
 	rm -f vmlinux.o
@@ -162,6 +209,8 @@ case "${KCONFIG_CONFIG}" in
 	. "./${KCONFIG_CONFIG}"
 esac
 
+archive_builtin
+
 #link vmlinux.o
 info LD vmlinux.o
 modpost_link vmlinux.o