diff --git a/docs/atomics.txt b/docs/atomics.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f2997b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/atomics.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,352 @@
+CPUs perform independent memory operations effectively in random order.
+but this can be a problem for CPU-CPU interaction (including interactions
+between QEMU and the guest).  Multi-threaded programs use various tools
+to instruct the compiler and the CPU to restrict the order to something
+that is consistent with the expectations of the programmer.
+
+The most basic tool is locking.  Mutexes, condition variables and
+semaphores are used in QEMU, and should be the default approach to
+synchronization.  Anything else is considerably harder, but it's
+also justified more often than one would like.  The two tools that
+are provided by qemu/atomic.h are memory barriers and atomic operations.
+
+Macros defined by qemu/atomic.h fall in three camps:
+
+- compiler barriers: barrier();
+
+- weak atomic access and manual memory barriers: atomic_read(),
+  atomic_set(), smp_rmb(), smp_wmb(), smp_mb(), smp_read_barrier_depends();
+
+- sequentially consistent atomic access: everything else.
+
+
+COMPILER MEMORY BARRIER
+=======================
+
+barrier() prevents the compiler from moving the memory accesses either
+side of it to the other side.  The compiler barrier has no direct effect
+on the CPU, which may then reorder things however it wishes.
+
+barrier() is mostly used within qemu/atomic.h itself.  On some
+architectures, CPU guarantees are strong enough that blocking compiler
+optimizations already ensures the correct order of execution.  In this
+case, qemu/atomic.h will reduce stronger memory barriers to simple
+compiler barriers.
+
+Still, barrier() can be useful when writing code that can be interrupted
+by signal handlers.
+
+
+SEQUENTIALLY CONSISTENT ATOMIC ACCESS
+=====================================
+
+Most of the operations in the qemu/atomic.h header ensure *sequential
+consistency*, where "the result of any execution is the same as if the
+operations of all the processors were executed in some sequential order,
+and the operations of each individual processor appear in this sequence
+in the order specified by its program".
+
+qemu/atomic.h provides the following set of atomic read-modify-write
+operations:
+
+    void atomic_inc(ptr)
+    void atomic_dec(ptr)
+    void atomic_add(ptr, val)
+    void atomic_sub(ptr, val)
+    void atomic_and(ptr, val)
+    void atomic_or(ptr, val)
+
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_fetch_inc(ptr)
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_fetch_dec(ptr)
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_fetch_add(ptr, val)
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_fetch_sub(ptr, val)
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_fetch_and(ptr, val)
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_fetch_or(ptr, val)
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_xchg(ptr, val
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_cmpxchg(ptr, old, new)
+
+all of which return the old value of *ptr.  These operations are
+polymorphic; they operate on any type that is as wide as an int.
+
+Sequentially consistent loads and stores can be done using:
+
+    atomic_fetch_add(ptr, 0) for loads
+    atomic_xchg(ptr, val) for stores
+
+However, they are quite expensive on some platforms, notably POWER and
+ARM.  Therefore, qemu/atomic.h provides two primitives with slightly
+weaker constraints:
+
+    typeof(*ptr) atomic_mb_read(ptr)
+    void         atomic_mb_set(ptr, val)
+
+The semantics of these primitives map to Java volatile variables,
+and are strongly related to memory barriers as used in the Linux
+kernel (see below).
+
+As long as you use atomic_mb_read and atomic_mb_set, accesses cannot
+be reordered with each other, and it is also not possible to reorder
+"normal" accesses around them.
+
+However, and this is the important difference between
+atomic_mb_read/atomic_mb_set and sequential consistency, it is important
+for both threads to access the same volatile variable.  It is not the
+case that everything visible to thread A when it writes volatile field f
+becomes visible to thread B after it reads volatile field g. The store
+and load have to "match" (i.e., be performed on the same volatile
+field) to achieve the right semantics.
+
+
+These operations operate on any type that is as wide as an int or smaller.
+
+
+WEAK ATOMIC ACCESS AND MANUAL MEMORY BARRIERS
+=============================================
+
+Compared to sequentially consistent atomic access, programming with
+weaker consistency models can be considerably more complicated.
+In general, if the algorithm you are writing includes both writes
+and reads on the same side, it is generally simpler to use sequentially
+consistent primitives.
+
+When using this model, variables are accessed with atomic_read() and
+atomic_set(), and restrictions to the ordering of accesses is enforced
+using the smp_rmb(), smp_wmb(), smp_mb() and smp_read_barrier_depends()
+memory barriers.
+
+atomic_read() and atomic_set() prevents the compiler from using
+optimizations that might otherwise optimize accesses out of existence
+on the one hand, or that might create unsolicited accesses on the other.
+In general this should not have any effect, because the same compiler
+barriers are already implied by memory barriers.  However, it is useful
+to do so, because it tells readers which variables are shared with
+other threads, and which are local to the current thread or protected
+by other, more mundane means.
+
+Memory barriers control the order of references to shared memory.
+They come in four kinds:
+
+- smp_rmb() guarantees that all the LOAD operations specified before
+  the barrier will appear to happen before all the LOAD operations
+  specified after the barrier with respect to the other components of
+  the system.
+
+  In other words, smp_rmb() puts a partial ordering on loads, but is not
+  required to have any effect on stores.
+
+- smp_wmb() guarantees that all the STORE operations specified before
+  the barrier will appear to happen before all the STORE operations
+  specified after the barrier with respect to the other components of
+  the system.
+
+  In other words, smp_wmb() puts a partial ordering on stores, but is not
+  required to have any effect on loads.
+
+- smp_mb() guarantees that all the LOAD and STORE operations specified
+  before the barrier will appear to happen before all the LOAD and
+  STORE operations specified after the barrier with respect to the other
+  components of the system.
+
+  smp_mb() puts a partial ordering on both loads and stores.  It is
+  stronger than both a read and a write memory barrier; it implies both
+  smp_rmb() and smp_wmb(), but it also prevents STOREs coming before the
+  barrier from overtaking LOADs coming after the barrier and vice versa.
+
+- smp_read_barrier_depends() is a weaker kind of read barrier.  On
+  most processors, whenever two loads are performed such that the
+  second depends on the result of the first (e.g., the first load
+  retrieves the address to which the second load will be directed),
+  the processor will guarantee that the first LOAD will appear to happen
+  before the second with respect to the other components of the system.
+  However, this is not always true---for example, it was not true on
+  Alpha processors.  Whenever this kind of access happens to shared
+  memory (that is not protected by a lock), a read barrier is needed,
+  and smp_read_barrier_depends() can be used instead of smp_rmb().
+
+  Note that the first load really has to have a _data_ dependency and not
+  a control dependency.  If the address for the second load is dependent
+  on the first load, but the dependency is through a conditional rather
+  than actually loading the address itself, then it's a _control_
+  dependency and a full read barrier or better is required.
+
+
+This is the set of barriers that is required *between* two atomic_read()
+and atomic_set() operations to achieve sequential consistency:
+
+                    |               2nd operation             |
+                    |-----------------------------------------|
+     1st operation  | (after last) | atomic_read | atomic_set |
+     ---------------+--------------+-------------+------------|
+     (before first) |              | none        | smp_wmb()  |
+     ---------------+--------------+-------------+------------|
+     atomic_read    | smp_rmb()    | smp_rmb()*  | **         |
+     ---------------+--------------+-------------+------------|
+     atomic_set     | none         | smp_mb()*** | smp_wmb()  |
+     ---------------+--------------+-------------+------------|
+
+       * Or smp_read_barrier_depends().
+
+      ** This requires a load-store barrier.  How to achieve this varies
+         depending on the machine, but in practice smp_rmb()+smp_wmb()
+         should have the desired effect.  For example, on PowerPC the
+         lwsync instruction is a combined load-load, load-store and
+         store-store barrier.
+
+     *** This requires a store-load barrier.  On most machines, the only
+         way to achieve this is a full barrier.
+
+
+You can see that the two possible definitions of atomic_mb_read()
+and atomic_mb_set() are the following:
+
+    1) atomic_mb_read(p)   = atomic_read(p); smp_rmb()
+       atomic_mb_set(p, v) = smp_wmb(); atomic_set(p, v); smp_mb()
+
+    2) atomic_mb_read(p)   = smp_mb() atomic_read(p); smp_rmb()
+       atomic_mb_set(p, v) = smp_wmb(); atomic_set(p, v);
+
+Usually the former is used, because smp_mb() is expensive and a program
+normally has more reads than writes.  Therefore it makes more sense to
+make atomic_mb_set() the more expensive operation.
+
+There are two common cases in which atomic_mb_read and atomic_mb_set
+generate too many memory barriers, and thus it can be useful to manually
+place barriers instead:
+
+- when a data structure has one thread that is always a writer
+  and one thread that is always a reader, manual placement of
+  memory barriers makes the write side faster.  Furthermore,
+  correctness is easy to check for in this case using the "pairing"
+  trick that is explained below:
+
+     thread 1                                thread 1
+     -------------------------               ------------------------
+     (other writes)
+                                             smp_wmb()
+     atomic_mb_set(&a, x)                    atomic_set(&a, x)
+                                             smp_wmb()
+     atomic_mb_set(&b, y)                    atomic_set(&b, y)
+
+                                       =>
+     thread 2                                thread 2
+     -------------------------               ------------------------
+     y = atomic_mb_read(&b)                  y = atomic_read(&b)
+                                             smp_rmb()
+     x = atomic_mb_read(&a)                  x = atomic_read(&a)
+                                             smp_rmb()
+
+- sometimes, a thread is accessing many variables that are otherwise
+  unrelated to each other (for example because, apart from the current
+  thread, exactly one other thread will read or write each of these
+  variables).  In this case, it is possible to "hoist" the implicit
+  barriers provided by atomic_mb_read() and atomic_mb_set() outside
+  a loop.  For example, the above definition atomic_mb_read() gives
+  the following transformation:
+
+     n = 0;                                  n = 0;
+     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)          =>    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
+       n += atomic_mb_read(&a[i]);             n += atomic_read(&a[i]);
+                                             smp_rmb();
+
+  Similarly, atomic_mb_set() can be transformed as follows:
+  smp_mb():
+
+                                             smp_wmb();
+     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)          =>    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
+       atomic_mb_set(&a[i], false);            atomic_set(&a[i], false);
+                                             smp_mb();
+
+
+The two tricks can be combined.  In this case, splitting a loop in
+two lets you hoist the barriers out of the loops _and_ eliminate the
+expensive smp_mb():
+
+                                             smp_wmb();
+     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {        =>    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
+       atomic_mb_set(&a[i], false);            atomic_set(&a[i], false);
+       atomic_mb_set(&b[i], false);          smb_wmb();
+     }                                       for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
+                                               atomic_set(&a[i], false);
+                                             smp_mb();
+
+  The other thread can still use atomic_mb_read()/atomic_mb_set()
+
+
+Memory barrier pairing
+----------------------
+
+A useful rule of thumb is that memory barriers should always, or almost
+always, be paired with another barrier.  In the case of QEMU, however,
+note that the other barrier may actually be in a driver that runs in
+the guest!
+
+For the purposes of pairing, smp_read_barrier_depends() and smp_rmb()
+both count as read barriers.  A read barriers shall pair with a write
+barrier or a full barrier; a write barrier shall pair with a read
+barrier or a full barrier.  A full barrier can pair with anything.
+For example:
+
+        thread 1             thread 2
+        ===============      ===============
+        a = 1;
+        smp_wmb();
+        b = 2;               x = b;
+                             smp_rmb();
+                             y = a;
+
+Note that the "writing" thread are accessing the variables in the
+opposite order as the "reading" thread.  This is expected: stores
+before the write barrier will normally match the loads after the
+read barrier, and vice versa.  The same is true for more than 2
+access and for data dependency barriers:
+
+        thread 1             thread 2
+        ===============      ===============
+        b[2] = 1;
+        smp_wmb();
+        x->i = 2;
+        smp_wmb();
+        a = x;               x = a;
+                             smp_read_barrier_depends();
+                             y = x->i;
+                             smp_read_barrier_depends();
+                             z = b[y];
+
+smp_wmb() also pairs with atomic_mb_read(), and smp_rmb() also pairs
+with atomic_mb_set().
+
+
+COMPARISON WITH LINUX KERNEL MEMORY BARRIERS
+============================================
+
+Here is a list of differences between Linux kernel atomic operations
+and memory barriers, and the equivalents in QEMU:
+
+- atomic operations in Linux are always on a 32-bit int type and
+  use a boxed atomic_t type; atomic operations in QEMU are polymorphic
+  and use normal C types.
+
+- atomic_read and atomic_set in Linux give no guarantee at all;
+  atomic_read and atomic_set in QEMU include a compiler barrier
+  (similar to the ACCESS_ONCE macro in Linux).
+
+- most atomic read-modify-write operations in Linux return void;
+  in QEMU, all of them return the old value of the variable.
+
+- different atomic read-modify-write operations in Linux imply
+  a different set of memory barriers; in QEMU, all of them enforce
+  sequential consistency, which means they imply full memory barriers
+  before and after the operation.
+
+- Linux does not have an equivalent of atomic_mb_read() and
+  atomic_mb_set().  In particular, note that set_mb() is a little
+  weaker than atomic_mb_set().
+
+
+SOURCES
+=======
+
+* Documentation/memory-barriers.txt from the Linux kernel
+
+* "The JSR-133 Cookbook for Compiler Writers", available at
+  http://g.oswego.edu/dl/jmm/cookbook.html
diff --git a/hw/display/qxl.c b/hw/display/qxl.c
index 3862d7a..ddefa06 100644
--- a/hw/display/qxl.c
+++ b/hw/display/qxl.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "qemu-common.h"
 #include "qemu/timer.h"
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
+#include "qemu/atomic.h"
 #include "monitor/monitor.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
 #include "trace.h"
@@ -1726,7 +1727,7 @@ static void qxl_send_events(PCIQXLDevice *d, uint32_t events)
         trace_qxl_send_events_vm_stopped(d->id, events);
         return;
     }
-    old_pending = __sync_fetch_and_or(&d->ram->int_pending, le_events);
+    old_pending = atomic_fetch_or(&d->ram->int_pending, le_events);
     if ((old_pending & le_events) == le_events) {
         return;
     }
diff --git a/hw/virtio/vhost.c b/hw/virtio/vhost.c
index 96ab625..8f6ab13 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/vhost.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/vhost.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 #include "hw/virtio/vhost.h"
 #include "hw/hw.h"
+#include "qemu/atomic.h"
 #include "qemu/range.h"
 #include <linux/vhost.h>
 #include "exec/address-spaces.h"
@@ -47,11 +48,9 @@ static void vhost_dev_sync_region(struct vhost_dev *dev,
             addr += VHOST_LOG_CHUNK;
             continue;
         }
-        /* Data must be read atomically. We don't really
-         * need the barrier semantics of __sync
-         * builtins, but it's easier to use them than
-         * roll our own. */
-        log = __sync_fetch_and_and(from, 0);
+        /* Data must be read atomically. We don't really need barrier semantics
+         * but it's easier to use atomic_* than roll our own. */
+        log = atomic_xchg(from, 0);
         while ((bit = sizeof(log) > sizeof(int) ?
                 ffsll(log) : ffs(log))) {
             hwaddr page_addr;
diff --git a/include/qemu/atomic.h b/include/qemu/atomic.h
index 10becb6..0aa8913 100644
--- a/include/qemu/atomic.h
+++ b/include/qemu/atomic.h
@@ -1,68 +1,202 @@
-#ifndef __QEMU_BARRIER_H
-#define __QEMU_BARRIER_H 1
+/*
+ * Simple interface for atomic operations.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2013 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * Author: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ *
+ */
 
-/* Compiler barrier */
-#define barrier()   asm volatile("" ::: "memory")
+#ifndef __QEMU_ATOMIC_H
+#define __QEMU_ATOMIC_H 1
 
-#if defined(__i386__)
+#include "qemu/compiler.h"
 
-#include "qemu/compiler.h"        /* QEMU_GNUC_PREREQ */
+/* For C11 atomic ops */
 
-/*
- * Because of the strongly ordered x86 storage model, wmb() and rmb() are nops
- * on x86(well, a compiler barrier only).  Well, at least as long as
- * qemu doesn't do accesses to write-combining memory or non-temporal
- * load/stores from C code.
- */
-#define smp_wmb()   barrier()
-#define smp_rmb()   barrier()
+/* Compiler barrier */
+#define barrier()   ({ asm volatile("" ::: "memory"); (void)0; })
+
+#ifndef __ATOMIC_RELAXED
 
 /*
- * We use GCC builtin if it's available, as that can use
- * mfence on 32 bit as well, e.g. if built with -march=pentium-m.
- * However, on i386, there seem to be known bugs as recently as 4.3.
- * */
-#if QEMU_GNUC_PREREQ(4, 4)
-#define smp_mb() __sync_synchronize()
+ * We use GCC builtin if it's available, as that can use mfence on
+ * 32-bit as well, e.g. if built with -march=pentium-m. However, on
+ * i386 the spec is buggy, and the implementation followed it until
+ * 4.3 (http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=36793).
+ */
+#if defined(__i386__) || defined(__x86_64__)
+#if !QEMU_GNUC_PREREQ(4, 4)
+#if defined __x86_64__
+#define smp_mb()    ({ asm volatile("mfence" ::: "memory"); (void)0; })
 #else
-#define smp_mb() asm volatile("lock; addl $0,0(%%esp) " ::: "memory")
+#define smp_mb()    ({ asm volatile("lock; addl $0,0(%%esp) " ::: "memory"); (void)0; })
+#endif
+#endif
+#endif
+
+
+#ifdef __alpha__
+#define smp_read_barrier_depends()   asm volatile("mb":::"memory")
 #endif
 
-#elif defined(__x86_64__)
+#if defined(__i386__) || defined(__x86_64__) || defined(__s390x__)
 
+/*
+ * Because of the strongly ordered storage model, wmb() and rmb() are nops
+ * here (a compiler barrier only).  QEMU doesn't do accesses to write-combining
+ * qemu memory or non-temporal load/stores from C code.
+ */
 #define smp_wmb()   barrier()
 #define smp_rmb()   barrier()
-#define smp_mb() asm volatile("mfence" ::: "memory")
+
+/*
+ * __sync_lock_test_and_set() is documented to be an acquire barrier only,
+ * but it is a full barrier at the hardware level.  Add a compiler barrier
+ * to make it a full barrier also at the compiler level.
+ */
+#define atomic_xchg(ptr, i)    (barrier(), __sync_lock_test_and_set(ptr, i))
+
+/*
+ * Load/store with Java volatile semantics.
+ */
+#define atomic_mb_set(ptr, i)  ((void)atomic_xchg(ptr, i))
 
 #elif defined(_ARCH_PPC)
 
 /*
  * We use an eieio() for wmb() on powerpc.  This assumes we don't
  * need to order cacheable and non-cacheable stores with respect to
- * each other
+ * each other.
+ *
+ * smp_mb has the same problem as on x86 for not-very-new GCC
+ * (http://patchwork.ozlabs.org/patch/126184/, Nov 2011).
  */
-#define smp_wmb()   asm volatile("eieio" ::: "memory")
-
+#define smp_wmb()   ({ asm volatile("eieio" ::: "memory"); (void)0; })
 #if defined(__powerpc64__)
-#define smp_rmb()   asm volatile("lwsync" ::: "memory")
+#define smp_rmb()   ({ asm volatile("lwsync" ::: "memory"); (void)0; })
 #else
-#define smp_rmb()   asm volatile("sync" ::: "memory")
+#define smp_rmb()   ({ asm volatile("sync" ::: "memory"); (void)0; })
 #endif
+#define smp_mb()    ({ asm volatile("sync" ::: "memory"); (void)0; })
 
-#define smp_mb()   asm volatile("sync" ::: "memory")
+#endif /* _ARCH_PPC */
 
-#else
+#endif /* C11 atomics */
 
 /*
  * For (host) platforms we don't have explicit barrier definitions
  * for, we use the gcc __sync_synchronize() primitive to generate a
  * full barrier.  This should be safe on all platforms, though it may
- * be overkill for wmb() and rmb().
+ * be overkill for smp_wmb() and smp_rmb().
  */
+#ifndef smp_mb
+#define smp_mb()    __sync_synchronize()
+#endif
+
+#ifndef smp_wmb
+#ifdef __ATOMIC_RELEASE
+#define smp_wmb()   __atomic_thread_fence(__ATOMIC_RELEASE)
+#else
 #define smp_wmb()   __sync_synchronize()
-#define smp_mb()   __sync_synchronize()
+#endif
+#endif
+
+#ifndef smp_rmb
+#ifdef __ATOMIC_ACQUIRE
+#define smp_rmb()   __atomic_thread_fence(__ATOMIC_ACQUIRE)
+#else
 #define smp_rmb()   __sync_synchronize()
+#endif
+#endif
+
+#ifndef smp_read_barrier_depends
+#ifdef __ATOMIC_CONSUME
+#define smp_read_barrier_depends()   __atomic_thread_fence(__ATOMIC_CONSUME)
+#else
+#define smp_read_barrier_depends()   barrier()
+#endif
+#endif
 
+#ifndef atomic_read
+#define atomic_read(ptr)       (*(__typeof__(*ptr) *volatile) (ptr))
 #endif
 
+#ifndef atomic_set
+#define atomic_set(ptr, i)     ((*(__typeof__(*ptr) *volatile) (ptr)) = (i))
+#endif
+
+/* These have the same semantics as Java volatile variables.
+ * See http://gee.cs.oswego.edu/dl/jmm/cookbook.html:
+ * "1. Issue a StoreStore barrier (wmb) before each volatile store."
+ *  2. Issue a StoreLoad barrier after each volatile store.
+ *     Note that you could instead issue one before each volatile load, but
+ *     this would be slower for typical programs using volatiles in which
+ *     reads greatly outnumber writes. Alternatively, if available, you
+ *     can implement volatile store as an atomic instruction (for example
+ *     XCHG on x86) and omit the barrier. This may be more efficient if
+ *     atomic instructions are cheaper than StoreLoad barriers.
+ *  3. Issue LoadLoad and LoadStore barriers after each volatile load."
+ *
+ * If you prefer to think in terms of "pairing" of memory barriers,
+ * an atomic_mb_read pairs with an atomic_mb_set.
+ *
+ * And for the few ia64 lovers that exist, an atomic_mb_read is a ld.acq,
+ * while an atomic_mb_set is a st.rel followed by a memory barrier.
+ *
+ * These are a bit weaker than __atomic_load/store with __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST
+ * (see docs/atomics.txt), and I'm not sure that __ATOMIC_ACQ_REL is enough.
+ * Just always use the barriers manually by the rules above.
+ */
+#ifndef atomic_mb_read
+#define atomic_mb_read(ptr)    ({           \
+    typeof(*ptr) _val = atomic_read(ptr);   \
+    smp_rmb();                              \
+    _val;                                   \
+})
+#endif
+
+#ifndef atomic_mb_set
+#define atomic_mb_set(ptr, i)  do {         \
+    smp_wmb();                              \
+    atomic_set(ptr, i);                     \
+    smp_mb();                               \
+} while (0)
+#endif
+
+#ifndef atomic_xchg
+#ifdef __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST
+#define atomic_xchg(ptr, i)    ({                           \
+    typeof(*ptr) _new = (i), _old;                          \
+    __atomic_exchange(ptr, &_new, &_old, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST); \
+    _old;                                                   \
+})
+#elif defined __clang__
+#define atomic_xchg(ptr, i)    __sync_exchange(ptr, i)
+#else
+/* __sync_lock_test_and_set() is documented to be an acquire barrier only.  */
+#define atomic_xchg(ptr, i)    (smp_mb(), __sync_lock_test_and_set(ptr, i))
+#endif
+#endif
+
+/* Provide shorter names for GCC atomic builtins.  */
+#define atomic_fetch_inc(ptr)  __sync_fetch_and_add(ptr, 1)
+#define atomic_fetch_dec(ptr)  __sync_fetch_and_add(ptr, -1)
+#define atomic_fetch_add       __sync_fetch_and_add
+#define atomic_fetch_sub       __sync_fetch_and_sub
+#define atomic_fetch_and       __sync_fetch_and_and
+#define atomic_fetch_or        __sync_fetch_and_or
+#define atomic_cmpxchg         __sync_val_compare_and_swap
+
+/* And even shorter names that return void.  */
+#define atomic_inc(ptr)        ((void) __sync_fetch_and_add(ptr, 1))
+#define atomic_dec(ptr)        ((void) __sync_fetch_and_add(ptr, -1))
+#define atomic_add(ptr, n)     ((void) __sync_fetch_and_add(ptr, n))
+#define atomic_sub(ptr, n)     ((void) __sync_fetch_and_sub(ptr, n))
+#define atomic_and(ptr, n)     ((void) __sync_fetch_and_and(ptr, n))
+#define atomic_or(ptr, n)      ((void) __sync_fetch_and_or(ptr, n))
+
 #endif
diff --git a/migration.c b/migration.c
index a704d48..635a7e7 100644
--- a/migration.c
+++ b/migration.c
@@ -293,8 +293,7 @@ static void migrate_fd_cleanup(void *opaque)
 
 static void migrate_finish_set_state(MigrationState *s, int new_state)
 {
-    if (__sync_val_compare_and_swap(&s->state, MIG_STATE_ACTIVE,
-                                    new_state) == new_state) {
+    if (atomic_cmpxchg(&s->state, MIG_STATE_ACTIVE, new_state) == new_state) {
         trace_migrate_set_state(new_state);
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/test-thread-pool.c b/tests/test-thread-pool.c
index 22915aa..b62338f 100644
--- a/tests/test-thread-pool.c
+++ b/tests/test-thread-pool.c
@@ -17,15 +17,15 @@ typedef struct {
 static int worker_cb(void *opaque)
 {
     WorkerTestData *data = opaque;
-    return __sync_fetch_and_add(&data->n, 1);
+    return atomic_fetch_inc(&data->n);
 }
 
 static int long_cb(void *opaque)
 {
     WorkerTestData *data = opaque;
-    __sync_fetch_and_add(&data->n, 1);
+    atomic_inc(&data->n);
     g_usleep(2000000);
-    __sync_fetch_and_add(&data->n, 1);
+    atomic_inc(&data->n);
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ static void test_cancel(void)
     /* Cancel the jobs that haven't been started yet.  */
     num_canceled = 0;
     for (i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
-        if (__sync_val_compare_and_swap(&data[i].n, 0, 3) == 0) {
+        if (atomic_cmpxchg(&data[i].n, 0, 3) == 0) {
             data[i].ret = -ECANCELED;
             bdrv_aio_cancel(data[i].aiocb);
             active--;
