diff --git a/Config.in b/Config.in
index ae611f81e..51ff01ef4 100644
--- a/Config.in
+++ b/Config.in
@@ -518,6 +518,14 @@ config USE_PORTABLE_CODE
 	compiler other than gcc.
 	If you do use gcc, this option may needlessly increase code size.
 
+config STACK_OPTIMIZATION_386
+	bool "Use -mpreferred-stack-boundary=2 on i386 arch"
+	default y
+	help
+	This option makes for smaller code, but some libc versions
+	do not work with it (they use SSE instructions without
+	ensuring stack alignment).
+
 comment 'Installation Options ("make install" behavior)'
 
 choice
diff --git a/arch/i386/Makefile b/arch/i386/Makefile
index e6c99c67d..425361fd9 100644
--- a/arch/i386/Makefile
+++ b/arch/i386/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 # Build system
 # ==========================================================================
 
+# Allow i486 insns (basically, bswap insn)
+# Do not try to tune for 486+ (might add padding)
+CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-march=i486 -mtune=i386,)
+
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_STACK_OPTIMIZATION_386),y)
 # -mpreferred-stack-boundary=2 is essential in preventing gcc 4.2.x
 # from aligning stack to 16 bytes. (Which is gcc's way of supporting SSE).
-CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-march=i386 -mpreferred-stack-boundary=2,)
+CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-mpreferred-stack-boundary=2,)
+endif