diff --git a/arch/ia64/mm/init.c b/arch/ia64/mm/init.c
index 4f36987eea7..2da84111072 100644
--- a/arch/ia64/mm/init.c
+++ b/arch/ia64/mm/init.c
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ lazy_mmu_prot_update (pte_t pte)
 		return;				/* i-cache is already coherent with d-cache */
 
 	if (PageCompound(page)) {
-		order = (unsigned long) (page[1].lru.prev);
+		order = compound_order(page);
 		flush_icache_range(addr, addr + (1UL << order << PAGE_SHIFT));
 	}
 	else
diff --git a/fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c b/fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c
index 9ba71b252f3..8e1b7825e2f 100644
--- a/fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ static int hugetlbfs_symlink(struct inode *dir,
  */
 static int hugetlbfs_set_page_dirty(struct page *page)
 {
-	struct page *head = (struct page *)page_private(page);
+	struct page *head = compound_head(page);
 
 	SetPageDirty(head);
 	return 0;
diff --git a/include/linux/mm.h b/include/linux/mm.h
index c95d96ebd5a..8c149fa4491 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm.h
@@ -267,17 +267,28 @@ static inline int get_page_unless_zero(struct page *page)
 	return atomic_inc_not_zero(&page->_count);
 }
 
+static inline struct page *compound_head(struct page *page)
+{
+	/*
+	 * We could avoid the PageCompound(page) check if
+	 * we would not overload PageTail().
+	 *
+	 * This check has to be done in several performance critical
+	 * paths of the slab etc. IMHO PageTail deserves its own flag.
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page) && PageTail(page)))
+		return page->first_page;
+	return page;
+}
+
 static inline int page_count(struct page *page)
 {
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = (struct page *)page_private(page);
-	return atomic_read(&page->_count);
+	return atomic_read(&compound_head(page)->_count);
 }
 
 static inline void get_page(struct page *page)
 {
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = (struct page *)page_private(page);
+	page = compound_head(page);
 	VM_BUG_ON(atomic_read(&page->_count) == 0);
 	atomic_inc(&page->_count);
 }
@@ -314,6 +325,18 @@ static inline compound_page_dtor *get_compound_page_dtor(struct page *page)
 	return (compound_page_dtor *)page[1].lru.next;
 }
 
+static inline int compound_order(struct page *page)
+{
+	if (!PageCompound(page) || PageTail(page))
+		return 0;
+	return (unsigned long)page[1].lru.prev;
+}
+
+static inline void set_compound_order(struct page *page, unsigned long order)
+{
+	page[1].lru.prev = (void *)order;
+}
+
 /*
  * Multiple processes may "see" the same page. E.g. for untouched
  * mappings of /dev/null, all processes see the same page full of
diff --git a/include/linux/page-flags.h b/include/linux/page-flags.h
index 96326594e55..a1e14363494 100644
--- a/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ b/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -94,6 +94,12 @@
 /* PG_owner_priv_1 users should have descriptive aliases */
 #define PG_checked		PG_owner_priv_1 /* Used by some filesystems */
 
+/*
+ * Marks tail portion of a compound page. We currently do not reclaim
+ * compound pages so we can reuse a flag only used for reclaim here.
+ */
+#define PG_tail			PG_reclaim
+
 #if (BITS_PER_LONG > 32)
 /*
  * 64-bit-only flags build down from bit 31
@@ -241,6 +247,14 @@ static inline void SetPageUptodate(struct page *page)
 #define __SetPageCompound(page)	__set_bit(PG_compound, &(page)->flags)
 #define __ClearPageCompound(page) __clear_bit(PG_compound, &(page)->flags)
 
+/*
+ * Note: PG_tail is an alias of another page flag. The result of PageTail()
+ * is only valid if PageCompound(page) is true.
+ */
+#define PageTail(page)	test_bit(PG_tail, &(page)->flags)
+#define __SetPageTail(page)	__set_bit(PG_tail, &(page)->flags)
+#define __ClearPageTail(page)	__clear_bit(PG_tail, &(page)->flags)
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_SWAP
 #define PageSwapCache(page)	test_bit(PG_swapcache, &(page)->flags)
 #define SetPageSwapCache(page)	set_bit(PG_swapcache, &(page)->flags)
diff --git a/mm/internal.h b/mm/internal.h
index d527b80b292..a3110c02aea 100644
--- a/mm/internal.h
+++ b/mm/internal.h
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ static inline void set_page_count(struct page *page, int v)
  */
 static inline void set_page_refcounted(struct page *page)
 {
-	VM_BUG_ON(PageCompound(page) && page_private(page) != (unsigned long)page);
+	VM_BUG_ON(PageCompound(page) && PageTail(page));
 	VM_BUG_ON(atomic_read(&page->_count));
 	set_page_count(page, 1);
 }
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index 542fc088ff5..fc241fe295a 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ static void bad_page(struct page *page)
 
 static void free_compound_page(struct page *page)
 {
-	__free_pages_ok(page, (unsigned long)page[1].lru.prev);
+	__free_pages_ok(page, compound_order(page));
 }
 
 static void prep_compound_page(struct page *page, unsigned long order)
@@ -234,12 +234,14 @@ static void prep_compound_page(struct page *page, unsigned long order)
 	int nr_pages = 1 << order;
 
 	set_compound_page_dtor(page, free_compound_page);
-	page[1].lru.prev = (void *)order;
-	for (i = 0; i < nr_pages; i++) {
+	set_compound_order(page, order);
+	__SetPageCompound(page);
+	for (i = 1; i < nr_pages; i++) {
 		struct page *p = page + i;
 
+		__SetPageTail(p);
 		__SetPageCompound(p);
-		set_page_private(p, (unsigned long)page);
+		p->first_page = page;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -248,15 +250,19 @@ static void destroy_compound_page(struct page *page, unsigned long order)
 	int i;
 	int nr_pages = 1 << order;
 
-	if (unlikely((unsigned long)page[1].lru.prev != order))
+	if (unlikely(compound_order(page) != order))
 		bad_page(page);
 
-	for (i = 0; i < nr_pages; i++) {
+	if (unlikely(!PageCompound(page)))
+			bad_page(page);
+	__ClearPageCompound(page);
+	for (i = 1; i < nr_pages; i++) {
 		struct page *p = page + i;
 
-		if (unlikely(!PageCompound(p) |
-				(page_private(p) != (unsigned long)page)))
+		if (unlikely(!PageCompound(p) | !PageTail(p) |
+				(p->first_page != page)))
 			bad_page(page);
+		__ClearPageTail(p);
 		__ClearPageCompound(p);
 	}
 }
@@ -429,13 +435,18 @@ static inline int free_pages_check(struct page *page)
 			1 << PG_private |
 			1 << PG_locked	|
 			1 << PG_active	|
-			1 << PG_reclaim	|
 			1 << PG_slab	|
 			1 << PG_swapcache |
 			1 << PG_writeback |
 			1 << PG_reserved |
 			1 << PG_buddy ))))
 		bad_page(page);
+	/*
+	 * PageReclaim == PageTail. It is only an error
+	 * for PageReclaim to be set if PageCompound is clear.
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(!PageCompound(page) && PageReclaim(page)))
+		bad_page(page);
 	if (PageDirty(page))
 		__ClearPageDirty(page);
 	/*
diff --git a/mm/slab.c b/mm/slab.c
index 9cd01fa6000..f4b2e22b5c6 100644
--- a/mm/slab.c
+++ b/mm/slab.c
@@ -602,8 +602,7 @@ static inline void page_set_cache(struct page *page, struct kmem_cache *cache)
 
 static inline struct kmem_cache *page_get_cache(struct page *page)
 {
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = (struct page *)page_private(page);
+	page = compound_head(page);
 	BUG_ON(!PageSlab(page));
 	return (struct kmem_cache *)page->lru.next;
 }
@@ -615,8 +614,7 @@ static inline void page_set_slab(struct page *page, struct slab *slab)
 
 static inline struct slab *page_get_slab(struct page *page)
 {
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = (struct page *)page_private(page);
+	page = compound_head(page);
 	BUG_ON(!PageSlab(page));
 	return (struct slab *)page->lru.prev;
 }
diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c
index 9d52cce7c99..8fa1c6e937f 100644
--- a/mm/slub.c
+++ b/mm/slub.c
@@ -1325,9 +1325,7 @@ void kmem_cache_free(struct kmem_cache *s, void *x)
 
 	page = virt_to_page(x);
 
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = page->first_page;
-
+	page = compound_head(page);
 
 	if (unlikely(PageError(page) && (s->flags & SLAB_STORE_USER)))
 		set_tracking(s, x, TRACK_FREE);
@@ -1338,10 +1336,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(kmem_cache_free);
 /* Figure out on which slab object the object resides */
 static struct page *get_object_page(const void *x)
 {
-	struct page *page = virt_to_page(x);
-
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = page->first_page;
+	struct page *page = compound_head(virt_to_page(x));
 
 	if (!PageSlab(page))
 		return NULL;
@@ -2081,10 +2076,7 @@ void kfree(const void *x)
 	if (!x)
 		return;
 
-	page = virt_to_page(x);
-
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = page->first_page;
+	page = compound_head(virt_to_page(x));
 
 	s = page->slab;
 
@@ -2120,10 +2112,7 @@ void *krealloc(const void *p, size_t new_size, gfp_t flags)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	page = virt_to_page(p);
-
-	if (unlikely(PageCompound(page)))
-		page = page->first_page;
+	page = compound_head(virt_to_page(p));
 
 	new_cache = get_slab(new_size, flags);
 
diff --git a/mm/swap.c b/mm/swap.c
index 2ed7be39795..218c52a24a2 100644
--- a/mm/swap.c
+++ b/mm/swap.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ static void fastcall __page_cache_release(struct page *page)
 
 static void put_compound_page(struct page *page)
 {
-	page = (struct page *)page_private(page);
+	page = compound_head(page);
 	if (put_page_testzero(page)) {
 		compound_page_dtor *dtor;