diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/apm_32.c b/arch/x86/kernel/apm_32.c
index 7496c2e4b6ae5181ec814470d2b8662124ca5429..e32f6c37db9b273145db8f71859e3650d6d405fa 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/apm_32.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/apm_32.c
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ static DECLARE_WAIT_QUEUE_HEAD(apm_waitqueue);
 static DECLARE_WAIT_QUEUE_HEAD(apm_suspend_waitqueue);
 static struct apm_user *	user_list;
 static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(user_list_lock);
-static const struct desc_struct	bad_bios_desc = { 0, 0x00409200 };
+static const struct desc_struct	bad_bios_desc = { { { 0, 0x00409200 } } };
 
 static const char		driver_version[] = "1.16ac";	/* no spaces */
 
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
index 235cd615b89d7f0491f6dbc294000355fcd4d577..4f9e31912a25cbaadfdae3fffbfac398cec4d224 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
@@ -22,31 +22,38 @@
 #include "cpu.h"
 
 DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct gdt_page, gdt_page) = { .gdt = {
-	[GDT_ENTRY_KERNEL_CS] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9a00 },
-	[GDT_ENTRY_KERNEL_DS] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9200 },
-	[GDT_ENTRY_DEFAULT_USER_CS] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cffa00 },
-	[GDT_ENTRY_DEFAULT_USER_DS] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cff200 },
+	[GDT_ENTRY_KERNEL_CS] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9a00 } } },
+	[GDT_ENTRY_KERNEL_DS] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9200 } } },
+	[GDT_ENTRY_DEFAULT_USER_CS] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cffa00 } } },
+	[GDT_ENTRY_DEFAULT_USER_DS] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00cff200 } } },
 	/*
 	 * Segments used for calling PnP BIOS have byte granularity.
 	 * They code segments and data segments have fixed 64k limits,
 	 * the transfer segment sizes are set at run time.
 	 */
-	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_CS32] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00409a00 },/* 32-bit code */
-	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_CS16] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00009a00 },/* 16-bit code */
-	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_DS] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00009200 }, /* 16-bit data */
-	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_TS1] = { 0x00000000, 0x00009200 },/* 16-bit data */
-	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_TS2] = { 0x00000000, 0x00009200 },/* 16-bit data */
+	/* 32-bit code */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_CS32] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00409a00 } } },
+	/* 16-bit code */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_CS16] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00009a00 } } },
+	/* 16-bit data */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_DS] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00009200 } } },
+	/* 16-bit data */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_TS1] = { { { 0x00000000, 0x00009200 } } },
+	/* 16-bit data */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_PNPBIOS_TS2] = { { { 0x00000000, 0x00009200 } } },
 	/*
 	 * The APM segments have byte granularity and their bases
 	 * are set at run time.  All have 64k limits.
 	 */
-	[GDT_ENTRY_APMBIOS_BASE] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00409a00 },/* 32-bit code */
+	/* 32-bit code */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_APMBIOS_BASE] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00409a00 } } },
 	/* 16-bit code */
-	[GDT_ENTRY_APMBIOS_BASE+1] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00009a00 },
-	[GDT_ENTRY_APMBIOS_BASE+2] = { 0x0000ffff, 0x00409200 }, /* data */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_APMBIOS_BASE+1] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00009a00 } } },
+	/* data */
+	[GDT_ENTRY_APMBIOS_BASE+2] = { { { 0x0000ffff, 0x00409200 } } },
 
-	[GDT_ENTRY_ESPFIX_SS] = { 0x00000000, 0x00c09200 },
-	[GDT_ENTRY_PERCPU] = { 0x00000000, 0x00000000 },
+	[GDT_ENTRY_ESPFIX_SS] = { { { 0x00000000, 0x00c09200 } } },
+	[GDT_ENTRY_PERCPU] = { { { 0x00000000, 0x00000000 } } },
 } };
 EXPORT_PER_CPU_SYMBOL_GPL(gdt_page);
 
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/process_64.c b/arch/x86/kernel/process_64.c
index 843bf0c978a48dd2ffd53143074ba3033143c506..86c310acc9891203f08de6ace903c0d238a84479 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/process_64.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/process_64.c
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ static inline void set_32bit_tls(struct task_struct *t, int tls, u32 addr)
 		.limit_in_pages = 1,
 		.useable = 1,
 	};
-	struct n_desc_struct *desc = (void *)t->thread.tls_array;
+	struct desc_struct *desc = (void *)t->thread.tls_array;
 	desc += tls;
 	desc->a = LDT_entry_a(&ud);
 	desc->b = LDT_entry_b(&ud);
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/traps_32.c b/arch/x86/kernel/traps_32.c
index 57491942cc4e09d653edd0f871aa7e29ed83ad24..0d45017ed824fd74ad7346c49afc72d5d972f4a7 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/traps_32.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/traps_32.c
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ char ignore_fpu_irq = 0;
  * F0 0F bug workaround.. We have a special link segment
  * for this.
  */
-struct desc_struct idt_table[256] __attribute__((__section__(".data.idt"))) = { {0, 0}, };
+struct desc_struct idt_table[256]
+	__attribute__((__section__(".data.idt"))) = { { { { 0, 0 } } }, };
 
 asmlinkage void divide_error(void);
 asmlinkage void debug(void);
diff --git a/include/asm-x86/desc_defs.h b/include/asm-x86/desc_defs.h
index 089004070099200c53ce9550ebd945b7ea9f9931..de47eb0a23aa2f3298a62fc07dc89430d8da0c36 100644
--- a/include/asm-x86/desc_defs.h
+++ b/include/asm-x86/desc_defs.h
@@ -11,17 +11,26 @@
 
 #include <linux/types.h>
 
+/*
+ * FIXME: Acessing the desc_struct through its fields is more elegant,
+ * and should be the one valid thing to do. However, a lot of open code
+ * still touches the a and b acessors, and doing this allow us to do it
+ * incrementally. We keep the signature as a struct, rather than an union,
+ * so we can get rid of it transparently in the future -- glommer
+ */
 // 8 byte segment descriptor
 struct desc_struct {
-	u16 limit0;
-	u16 base0;
-	unsigned base1 : 8, type : 4, s : 1, dpl : 2, p : 1;
-	unsigned limit : 4, avl : 1, l : 1, d : 1, g : 1, base2 : 8;
-} __attribute__((packed));
+	union {
+		struct { unsigned int a, b; };
+		struct {
+			u16 limit0;
+			u16 base0;
+			unsigned base1: 8, type: 4, s: 1, dpl: 2, p: 1;
+			unsigned limit: 4, avl: 1, l: 1, d: 1, g: 1, base2: 8;
+		};
 
-struct n_desc_struct {
-	unsigned int a,b;
-};
+	};
+} __attribute__((packed));
 
 enum {
 	GATE_INTERRUPT = 0xE,
diff --git a/include/asm-x86/lguest.h b/include/asm-x86/lguest.h
index ccd3384608111ba91dd10bb2c3a62cdabda7e6a3..17c908c0ef1cfccefb7e9d7b526af996930c5861 100644
--- a/include/asm-x86/lguest.h
+++ b/include/asm-x86/lguest.h
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ static inline void lguest_set_ts(void)
 }
 
 /* Full 4G segment descriptors, suitable for CS and DS. */
-#define FULL_EXEC_SEGMENT ((struct desc_struct){0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9b00})
-#define FULL_SEGMENT ((struct desc_struct){0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9300})
+#define FULL_EXEC_SEGMENT ((struct desc_struct){ { {0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9b00} } })
+#define FULL_SEGMENT ((struct desc_struct){ { {0x0000ffff, 0x00cf9300} } })
 
 #endif /* __ASSEMBLY__ */
 
diff --git a/include/asm-x86/processor_32.h b/include/asm-x86/processor_32.h
index 9c0ab7f26bd99ebf932933792d625259eb9a0ff2..bc48ad64de47c1b70fb137cbcd963ff71532b49f 100644
--- a/include/asm-x86/processor_32.h
+++ b/include/asm-x86/processor_32.h
@@ -20,14 +20,11 @@
 #include <linux/cpumask.h>
 #include <linux/init.h>
 #include <asm/processor-flags.h>
+#include <asm/desc_defs.h>
 
 /* flag for disabling the tsc */
 extern int tsc_disable;
 
-struct desc_struct {
-	unsigned long a,b;
-};
-
 static inline int desc_empty(const void *ptr)
 {
 	const u32 *desc = ptr;