diff --git a/qemu/configure b/qemu/configure
index ace25010..c04e4071 100755
--- a/qemu/configure
+++ b/qemu/configure
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ solaris="no"
 softmmu="yes"
 pie=""
 tcg="yes"
+membarrier=""
 cpuid_h="no"
 avx2_opt="no"
 
@@ -562,6 +563,10 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --disable-stack-protector) stack_protector="no"
   ;;
+  --disable-membarrier) membarrier="no"
+  ;;
+  --enable-membarrier) membarrier="yes"
+  ;;
   *)
       echo "ERROR: unknown option $opt"
       echo "Try '$0 --help' for more information"
@@ -1181,6 +1186,37 @@ if compile_prog "" "" ; then
   vector16=yes
 fi
 
+##########################################
+# check for usable membarrier system call
+if test "$membarrier" = "yes"; then
+    have_membarrier=no
+    if test "$mingw32" = "yes" ; then
+        have_membarrier=yes
+    elif test "$linux" = "yes" ; then
+        cat > $TMPC << EOF
+    #include <linux/membarrier.h>
+    #include <sys/syscall.h>
+    #include <unistd.h>
+    #include <stdlib.h>
+    int main(void) {
+        syscall(__NR_membarrier, MEMBARRIER_CMD_QUERY, 0);
+        syscall(__NR_membarrier, MEMBARRIER_CMD_SHARED, 0);
+  exit(0);
+    }
+EOF
+        if compile_prog "" "" ; then
+            have_membarrier=yes
+        fi
+    fi
+    if test "$have_membarrier" = "no"; then
+      feature_not_found "membarrier" "membarrier system call not available"
+    fi
+else
+    # Do not enable it by default even for Mingw32, because it doesn't
+    # work on Wine.
+    membarrier=no
+fi
+
 #########################################
 # See if 128-bit atomic operations are supported.
 
@@ -1323,6 +1359,7 @@ if test -n "$sparc_cpu"; then
     echo "Target Sparc Arch $sparc_cpu"
 fi
 echo "PIE               $pie"
+echo "membarrier        $membarrier"
 echo "TCG support       $tcg"
 if test "$tcg" = "yes" ; then
     echo "TCG debug enabled $debug_tcg"
@@ -1408,6 +1445,9 @@ fi
 if test "$bswap_h" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_MACHINE_BSWAP_H=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
+if test "$membarrier" = "yes" ; then
+  echo "CONFIG_MEMBARRIER=y" >> $config_host_mak
+fi
 if test "$tcg" = "yes"; then
   echo "CONFIG_TCG=y" >> $config_host_mak
   if test "$tcg_interpreter" = "yes" ; then
diff --git a/qemu/include/qemu/sys_membarrier.h b/qemu/include/qemu/sys_membarrier.h
index 9ce7f521..316e3dc4 100644
--- a/qemu/include/qemu/sys_membarrier.h
+++ b/qemu/include/qemu/sys_membarrier.h
@@ -9,9 +9,19 @@
 #ifndef QEMU_SYS_MEMBARRIER_H
 #define QEMU_SYS_MEMBARRIER_H 1
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_MEMBARRIER
+/* Only block reordering at the compiler level in the performance-critical
+ * side.  The slow side forces processor-level ordering on all other cores
+ * through a system call.
+ */
+extern void smp_mb_global_init(void);
+extern void smp_mb_global(void);
+#define smp_mb_placeholder()       barrier()
+#else
 /* Keep it simple, execute a real memory barrier on both sides.  */
 static inline void smp_mb_global_init(void) {}
 #define smp_mb_global()            smp_mb()
 #define smp_mb_placeholder()       smp_mb()
+#endif
 
 #endif
diff --git a/qemu/util/Makefile.objs b/qemu/util/Makefile.objs
index ef48ee35..fe3e0c34 100644
--- a/qemu/util/Makefile.objs
+++ b/qemu/util/Makefile.objs
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ util-obj-y += host-utils.o
 util-obj-y += getauxval.o
 util-obj-y += log.o
 util-obj-y += range.o
+util-obj-$(CONFIG_MEMBARRIER) += sys_membarrier.o
diff --git a/qemu/util/sys_membarrier.c b/qemu/util/sys_membarrier.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c8cc907
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qemu/util/sys_membarrier.c
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Process-global memory barriers
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * Author: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
+ */
+
+#include <qemu/osdep.h>
+#include <qemu/sys_membarrier.h>
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
+#include <linux/membarrier.h>
+#include <sys/syscall.h>
+
+static int
+membarrier(int cmd, int flags)
+{
+    return syscall(__NR_membarrier, cmd, flags);
+}
+#endif
+
+void smp_mb_global(void)
+{
+#if defined CONFIG_WIN32
+    FlushProcessWriteBuffers();
+#elif defined CONFIG_LINUX
+    membarrier(MEMBARRIER_CMD_SHARED, 0);
+#else
+#error --enable-membarrier is not supported on this operating system.
+#endif
+}
+
+void smp_mb_global_init(void)
+{
+#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
+    int ret = membarrier(MEMBARRIER_CMD_QUERY, 0);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        //error_report("This QEMU binary requires the membarrier system call.");
+        //error_report("Please upgrade your system to a newer version of Linux");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    if (!(ret & MEMBARRIER_CMD_SHARED)) {
+        //error_report("This QEMU binary requires MEMBARRIER_CMD_SHARED support.");
+        //error_report("Please upgrade your system to a newer version of Linux");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+#endif
+}