diff --git a/include/linux/etherdevice.h b/include/linux/etherdevice.h
index 4522c7186bf3..cc84934f9059 100644
--- a/include/linux/etherdevice.h
+++ b/include/linux/etherdevice.h
@@ -104,6 +104,22 @@ static inline void random_ether_addr(u8 *addr)
 	addr [0] &= 0xfe;	/* clear multicast bit */
 	addr [0] |= 0x02;	/* set local assignment bit (IEEE802) */
 }
+
+/**
+ * compare_ether_addr - Compare two Ethernet addresses
+ * @addr1: Pointer to a six-byte array containing the Ethernet address
+ * @addr2 Pointer other six-byte array containing the Ethernet address
+ *
+ * Compare two ethernet addresses, returns 0 if equal
+ */
+static inline unsigned compare_ether_addr(const u8 *_a, const u8 *_b)
+{
+	const u16 *a = (const u16 *) _a;
+	const u16 *b = (const u16 *) _b;
+
+	BUILD_BUG_ON(ETH_ALEN != 6);
+	return ((a[0] ^ b[0]) | (a[1] ^ b[1]) | (a[2] ^ b[2])) != 0;
+}
 #endif	/* __KERNEL__ */
 
 #endif	/* _LINUX_ETHERDEVICE_H */
diff --git a/net/ethernet/eth.c b/net/ethernet/eth.c
index 68a5ca866442..e24577367274 100644
--- a/net/ethernet/eth.c
+++ b/net/ethernet/eth.c
@@ -146,19 +146,6 @@ int eth_rebuild_header(struct sk_buff *skb)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static inline unsigned int compare_eth_addr(const unsigned char *__a, const unsigned char *__b)
-{
-	const unsigned short *dest = (unsigned short *) __a;
-	const unsigned short *devaddr = (unsigned short *) __b;
-	unsigned int res;
-
-	BUILD_BUG_ON(ETH_ALEN != 6);
-	res = ((dest[0] ^ devaddr[0]) |
-	       (dest[1] ^ devaddr[1]) |
-	       (dest[2] ^ devaddr[2])) != 0;
-
-	return res;
-}
 
 /*
  *	Determine the packet's protocol ID. The rule here is that we 
@@ -176,7 +163,7 @@ __be16 eth_type_trans(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	eth = eth_hdr(skb);
 	
 	if (*eth->h_dest&1) {
-		if (!compare_eth_addr(eth->h_dest, dev->broadcast))
+		if (!compare_ether_addr(eth->h_dest, dev->broadcast))
 			skb->pkt_type = PACKET_BROADCAST;
 		else
 			skb->pkt_type = PACKET_MULTICAST;
@@ -191,7 +178,7 @@ __be16 eth_type_trans(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	 */
 	 
 	else if(1 /*dev->flags&IFF_PROMISC*/) {
-		if (unlikely(compare_eth_addr(eth->h_dest, dev->dev_addr)))
+		if (unlikely(compare_ether_addr(eth->h_dest, dev->dev_addr)))
 			skb->pkt_type = PACKET_OTHERHOST;
 	}