diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/mwait.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/mwait.h
index a1410db38a1a..653dfa7662e1 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/mwait.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/mwait.h
@@ -30,6 +30,14 @@ static inline void __mwait(unsigned long eax, unsigned long ecx)
 		     :: "a" (eax), "c" (ecx));
 }
 
+static inline void __sti_mwait(unsigned long eax, unsigned long ecx)
+{
+	trace_hardirqs_on();
+	/* "mwait %eax, %ecx;" */
+	asm volatile("sti; .byte 0x0f, 0x01, 0xc9;"
+		     :: "a" (eax), "c" (ecx));
+}
+
 /*
  * This uses new MONITOR/MWAIT instructions on P4 processors with PNI,
  * which can obviate IPI to trigger checking of need_resched.
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/process.c b/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
index e127ddaa2d5a..da06f741d2a6 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <asm/syscalls.h>
 #include <asm/idle.h>
 #include <asm/uaccess.h>
+#include <asm/mwait.h>
 #include <asm/i387.h>
 #include <asm/fpu-internal.h>
 #include <asm/debugreg.h>
@@ -398,6 +399,49 @@ static void amd_e400_idle(void)
 		default_idle();
 }
 
+/*
+ * Intel Core2 and older machines prefer MWAIT over HALT for C1.
+ * We can't rely on cpuidle installing MWAIT, because it will not load
+ * on systems that support only C1 -- so the boot default must be MWAIT.
+ *
+ * Some AMD machines are the opposite, they depend on using HALT.
+ *
+ * So for default C1, which is used during boot until cpuidle loads,
+ * use MWAIT-C1 on Intel HW that has it, else use HALT.
+ */
+static int prefer_mwait_c1_over_halt(const struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
+{
+	if (c->x86_vendor != X86_VENDOR_INTEL)
+		return 0;
+
+	if (!cpu_has(c, X86_FEATURE_MWAIT))
+		return 0;
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
+/*
+ * MONITOR/MWAIT with no hints, used for default default C1 state.
+ * This invokes MWAIT with interrutps enabled and no flags,
+ * which is backwards compatible with the original MWAIT implementation.
+ */
+
+static void mwait_idle(void)
+{
+	if (!need_resched()) {
+		if (this_cpu_has(X86_BUG_CLFLUSH_MONITOR))
+			clflush((void *)&current_thread_info()->flags);
+
+		__monitor((void *)&current_thread_info()->flags, 0, 0);
+		smp_mb();
+		if (!need_resched())
+			__sti_mwait(0, 0);
+		else
+			local_irq_enable();
+	} else
+		local_irq_enable();
+}
+
 void select_idle_routine(const struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
 {
 #ifdef CONFIG_SMP
@@ -411,6 +455,9 @@ void select_idle_routine(const struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
 		/* E400: APIC timer interrupt does not wake up CPU from C1e */
 		pr_info("using AMD E400 aware idle routine\n");
 		x86_idle = amd_e400_idle;
+	} else if (prefer_mwait_c1_over_halt(c)) {
+		pr_info("using mwait in idle threads\n");
+		x86_idle = mwait_idle;
 	} else
 		x86_idle = default_idle;
 }