diff -ruN qemu.ORIG/configure qemu/configure
--- qemu.ORIG/configure	2008-05-04 17:21:08.000000000 -0400
+++ qemu/configure	2008-05-04 17:36:55.000000000 -0400
@@ -1199,6 +1199,13 @@
     then
       echo "#define USE_KQEMU 1" >> $config_h
     fi
+    gcc3minver=`$cc --version 2> /dev/null| fgrep "(GCC) 3." | awk '{ print $3 }' | cut -f2 -d.`
+    if test -n "$gcc3minver" -a $gcc3minver -gt 3
+    then
+      echo "HAVE_GT_GCC_3_3=true" >> $config_mak
+    else
+      echo "HAVE_GT_GCC_3_3=false" >> $config_mak
+    fi
   ;;
   x86_64)
     echo "TARGET_ARCH=x86_64" >> $config_mak
diff -ruN qemu.ORIG/Makefile.target qemu/Makefile.target
--- qemu.ORIG/Makefile.target	2008-05-04 17:21:08.000000000 -0400
+++ qemu/Makefile.target	2008-05-04 20:58:47.000000000 -0400
@@ -96,6 +96,12 @@
 ifeq ($(ARCH),i386)
 HELPER_CFLAGS+=-fomit-frame-pointer
 OP_CFLAGS+=-mpreferred-stack-boundary=2 -fomit-frame-pointer
+# OP_CFLAGS needs this on 32-bit x86 system to avoid
+# a compiler spill error. This can probably go away
+# once the SSE ops have been converted to TCG
+ifeq ($(HAVE_GT_GCC_3_3), true)
+MTUNE_CFLAGS=-march=i486 -mtune=i686
+endif
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(ARCH),ppc)
@@ -309,7 +315,7 @@
 	$(DYNGEN) -g -o $@ $<
 
 op.o: op.c
-	$(CC) $(OP_CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<
+	$(CC) $(OP_CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(MTUNE_CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<
 
 machine.o: machine.c
 	$(CC) $(OP_CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<
@@ -317,9 +323,24 @@
 # HELPER_CFLAGS is used for all the code compiled with static register
 # variables
 ifeq ($(TARGET_BASE_ARCH), i386)
+  # if current host is i386 and gcc >= -3.4, CFLAGS requires some
+  # handling as helper.c generates a compiler spill error if 
+  # "-march=i686 -mtune=i686" or -"march=athlon-xp -mtune=athlon-xp"
+  # We set MTUNE_CFLAGS="-march=i486 -mtune=i686" here
+  # Once SSE ops are converted to TCG, this can go away
+  HCFLAGS=$(CFLAGS)
+  ifeq ($(ARCH), i386)
+    ifeq ($(HAVE_GT_GCC_3_3), true)
+      # if CFLAGS has -march=i686, remove it so helper.o
+      # can compile on 32-bit intel systems
+      HCFLAGS=`echo $(CFLAGS) | sed 's,-march=i686,,' | sed 's,-mtune=i686,,' \
+        | sed 's,-march=athlon-xp,,' |  sed 's,-mtune=athlon-xp,,'`
+    endif
+  endif
+
 # XXX: rename helper.c to op_helper.c
 helper.o: helper.c
-	$(CC) $(HELPER_CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<
+	$(CC) $(HELPER_CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(MTUNE_CFLAGS) $(HCFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<
 else
 op_helper.o: op_helper.c
 	$(CC) $(HELPER_CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<