diff --git a/arch/powerpc/Makefile.postlink b/arch/powerpc/Makefile.postlink
index 1f9f6e66bdec..4c1eafd0d52d 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/Makefile.postlink
+++ b/arch/powerpc/Makefile.postlink
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ __archpost:
 include include/config/auto.conf
 include scripts/Kbuild.include
 
+quiet_cmd_head_check = CHKHEAD $@
+      cmd_head_check = $(CONFIG_SHELL) $(srctree)/arch/powerpc/tools/head_check.sh "$(NM)" "$@"
+
 quiet_cmd_relocs_check = CHKREL  $@
 ifdef CONFIG_PPC_BOOK3S_64
       cmd_relocs_check =						\
@@ -24,6 +27,9 @@ endif
 
 vmlinux: FORCE
 	@true
+ifdef CONFIG_PPC64
+	$(call cmd,head_check)
+endif
 ifdef CONFIG_RELOCATABLE
 	$(call if_changed,relocs_check)
 endif
@@ -32,7 +38,7 @@ endif
 	@true
 
 clean:
-	@true
+	rm -f .tmp_symbols.txt
 
 PHONY += FORCE clean
 
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/head-64.h b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/head-64.h
index 86eb87382031..99c9f01d02df 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/head-64.h
+++ b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/head-64.h
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@
  *   CLOSE_FIXED_SECTION() or elsewhere, there may be something
  *   unexpected being added there. Remove the '. = x_len' line, rebuild, and
  *   check what is pushing the section down.
- * - If the build dies in linking, check arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
- *   for instructions.
+ * - If the build dies in linking, check arch/powerpc/tools/head_check.sh
+ *   comments.
  * - If the kernel crashes or hangs in very early boot, it could be linker
  *   stubs at the start of the main text.
  */
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S b/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
index bcfda21c3179..5aa434e84605 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ SECTIONS
 #ifdef CONFIG_PPC64
 		KEEP(*(.head.text.first_256B));
 #ifdef CONFIG_PPC_BOOK3E
-# define END_FIXED	0x100
 #else
 		KEEP(*(.head.text.real_vectors));
 		*(.head.text.real_trampolines);
@@ -66,12 +65,8 @@ SECTIONS
 		*(.head.text.virt_trampolines);
 # if defined(CONFIG_PPC_PSERIES) || defined(CONFIG_PPC_POWERNV)
 		KEEP(*(.head.data.fwnmi_page));
-#  define END_FIXED	0x8000
-# else
-#  define END_FIXED	0x7000
 # endif
 #endif
-		ASSERT((. == END_FIXED), "vmlinux.lds.S: fixed section overflow error");
 #else /* !CONFIG_PPC64 */
 		HEAD_TEXT
 #endif
@@ -79,23 +74,6 @@ SECTIONS
 
 	__head_end = .;
 
-	/*
-	 * If the build dies here, it's likely code in head_64.S is referencing
-	 * labels it can't reach, and the linker inserting stubs without the
-	 * assembler's knowledge. To debug, remove the above assert and
-	 * rebuild. Look for branch stubs in the fixed section region.
-	 *
-	 * Linker stub generation could be allowed in "trampoline"
-	 * sections if absolutely necessary, but this would require
-	 * some rework of the fixed sections. Before resorting to this,
-	 * consider references that have sufficient addressing range,
-	 * (e.g., hand coded trampolines) so the linker does not have
-	 * to add stubs.
-	 *
-	 * Linker stubs at the top of the main text section are currently not
-	 * detected, and will result in a crash at boot due to offsets being
-	 * wrong.
-	 */
 #ifdef CONFIG_PPC64
 	/*
 	 * BLOCK(0) overrides the default output section alignment because
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/tools/head_check.sh b/arch/powerpc/tools/head_check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..35f8cb3a3f99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arch/powerpc/tools/head_check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Copyright © 2016 IBM Corporation
+
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+# as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version
+# 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+# This script checks the head of a vmlinux for linker stubs that
+# break our placement of fixed-location code for 64-bit.
+
+# based on relocs_check.pl
+# Copyright © 2009 IBM Corporation
+
+# NOTE!
+#
+# If the build dies here, it's likely code in head_64.S/exception-64*.S or
+# nearby, is branching to labels it can't reach directly, which results in the
+# linker inserting branch stubs. This can move code around in ways that break
+# the fixed section calculations (head-64.h). To debug this, disassemble the
+# vmlinux and look for branch stubs (long_branch, plt_branch, etc.) in the
+# fixed section region (0 - 0x8000ish). Check what code is calling those stubs,
+# and perhaps change so a direct branch can reach.
+#
+# Linker stubs use the TOC pointer, so even if fixed section code could
+# tolerate them being inserted into head code, they can't be allowed in low
+# level entry code (boot, interrupt vectors, etc) until r2 is set up. This
+# could cause the kernel to die in early boot.
+
+# Turn this on if you want more debug output:
+# set -x
+
+if [ $# -lt 2 ]; then
+	echo "$0 [path to nm] [path to vmlinux]" 1>&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+# Have Kbuild supply the path to nm so we handle cross compilation.
+nm="$1"
+vmlinux="$2"
+
+$nm "$vmlinux" | grep -e " T _stext$" -e " t start_first_256B$" -e " a text_start$" -e " t start_text$" -m4 > .tmp_symbols.txt
+
+
+vma=$(cat .tmp_symbols.txt | grep " T _stext$" | cut -d' ' -f1)
+
+expected_start_head_addr=$vma
+
+start_head_addr=$(cat .tmp_symbols.txt | grep " t start_first_256B$" | cut -d' ' -f1)
+
+if [ "$start_head_addr" != "$expected_start_head_addr" ]; then
+	echo "ERROR: head code starts at $start_head_addr, should be 0"
+	echo "ERROR: see comments in arch/powerpc/tools/head_check.sh"
+
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+top_vma=$(echo $vma | cut -d'0' -f1)
+
+expected_start_text_addr=$(cat .tmp_symbols.txt | grep " a text_start$" | cut -d' ' -f1 | sed "s/^0/$top_vma/")
+
+start_text_addr=$(cat .tmp_symbols.txt | grep " t start_text$" | cut -d' ' -f1)
+
+if [ "$start_text_addr" != "$expected_start_text_addr" ]; then
+	echo "ERROR: start_text address is $start_text_addr, should be $expected_start_text_addr"
+	echo "ERROR: see comments in arch/powerpc/tools/head_check.sh"
+
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+rm -f .tmp_symbols.txt
