diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d634b336b..e10004b70 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -285,8 +285,9 @@ CPPFLAGS		=	${DEFINES} ${INCLUDES} ${MBEDTLS_INC} -nostdinc	\
 ASFLAGS			+=	$(CPPFLAGS) $(ASFLAGS_$(ARCH))			\
 				-ffreestanding -Wa,--fatal-warnings
 TF_CFLAGS		+=	$(CPPFLAGS) $(TF_CFLAGS_$(ARCH))		\
-				-ffreestanding -fno-builtin -std=gnu99		\
-				-Os -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections
+				-ffunction-sections -fdata-sections		\
+				-ffreestanding -fno-builtin -fno-common		\
+				-Os -std=gnu99
 
 ifeq (${SANITIZE_UB},on)
 TF_CFLAGS		+=	-fsanitize=undefined -fno-sanitize-recover
diff --git a/bl1/bl1.ld.S b/bl1/bl1.ld.S
index c4f6b99fc..877af8e01 100644
--- a/bl1/bl1.ld.S
+++ b/bl1/bl1.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2019, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ SECTIONS
     .text . : {
         __TEXT_START__ = .;
         *bl1_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
         *(.vectors)
         . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);
         __TEXT_END__ = .;
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ SECTIONS
 
     .rodata . : {
         __RODATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /* Ensure 8-byte alignment for descriptors and ensure inclusion */
         . = ALIGN(8);
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ SECTIONS
     ro . : {
         __RO_START__ = .;
         *bl1_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /* Ensure 8-byte alignment for descriptors and ensure inclusion */
         . = ALIGN(8);
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ SECTIONS
      */
     .data . : ALIGN(16) {
         __DATA_RAM_START__ = .;
-        *(.data*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.data*))
         __DATA_RAM_END__ = .;
     } >RAM AT>ROM
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ SECTIONS
      */
     .bss : ALIGN(16) {
         __BSS_START__ = .;
-        *(.bss*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.bss*))
         *(COMMON)
         __BSS_END__ = .;
     } >RAM
diff --git a/bl2/bl2.ld.S b/bl2/bl2.ld.S
index 30cdf7d78..6230562ed 100644
--- a/bl2/bl2.ld.S
+++ b/bl2/bl2.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2019, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ SECTIONS
     .text . : {
         __TEXT_START__ = .;
         *bl2_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
         *(.vectors)
         . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);
         __TEXT_END__ = .;
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ SECTIONS
 
     .rodata . : {
         __RODATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /* Ensure 8-byte alignment for descriptors and ensure inclusion */
         . = ALIGN(8);
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ SECTIONS
     ro . : {
         __RO_START__ = .;
         *bl2_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /* Ensure 8-byte alignment for descriptors and ensure inclusion */
         . = ALIGN(8);
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ SECTIONS
      */
     .data . : {
         __DATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.data*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.data*))
         __DATA_END__ = .;
     } >RAM
 
diff --git a/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S b/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S
index 82b51a862..dc398eb02 100644
--- a/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S
+++ b/bl2/bl2_el3.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017-2019, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ SECTIONS
 	*bl2_el3_entrypoint.o(.text*)
 	*(.text.asm.*)
 	__TEXT_RESIDENT_END__ = .;
-        *(.text*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
         *(.vectors)
         . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);
         __TEXT_END__ = .;
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ SECTIONS
 
     .rodata . : {
         __RODATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /* Ensure 8-byte alignment for descriptors and ensure inclusion */
         . = ALIGN(8);
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ SECTIONS
 	*bl2_el3_entrypoint.o(.text*)
 	*(.text.asm.*)
 	__TEXT_RESIDENT_END__ = .;
-        *(.text*)
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /*
          * Ensure 8-byte alignment for cpu_ops so that its fields are also
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ SECTIONS
      */
     .data . : {
         __DATA_RAM_START__ = .;
-        *(.data*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.data*))
         __DATA_RAM_END__ = .;
     } >RAM AT>ROM
 
diff --git a/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S b/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S
index 8d4984fbf..8d257cee9 100644
--- a/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S
+++ b/bl2u/bl2u.ld.S
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2015-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2019, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ SECTIONS
     .text . : {
         __TEXT_START__ = .;
         *bl2u_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
         *(.vectors)
         . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);
         __TEXT_END__ = .;
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ SECTIONS
 
     .rodata . : {
         __RODATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
         . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);
         __RODATA_END__ = .;
     } >RAM
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ SECTIONS
     ro . : {
         __RO_START__ = .;
         *bl2u_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         *(.vectors)
         __RO_END_UNALIGNED__ = .;
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ SECTIONS
      */
     .data . : {
         __DATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.data*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.data*))
         __DATA_END__ = .;
     } >RAM
 
diff --git a/bl31/bl31.ld.S b/bl31/bl31.ld.S
index c7d587cb0..708ee329f 100644
--- a/bl31/bl31.ld.S
+++ b/bl31/bl31.ld.S
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ SECTIONS
     .text . : {
         __TEXT_START__ = .;
         *bl31_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
         *(.vectors)
         . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);
         __TEXT_END__ = .;
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ SECTIONS
 
     .rodata . : {
         __RODATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /* Ensure 8-byte alignment for descriptors and ensure inclusion */
         . = ALIGN(8);
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ SECTIONS
     ro . : {
         __RO_START__ = .;
         *bl31_entrypoint.o(.text*)
-        *(.text*)
-        *(.rodata*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.text*))
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.rodata*))
 
         /* Ensure 8-byte alignment for descriptors and ensure inclusion */
         . = ALIGN(8);
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ SECTIONS
      */
    .data . : {
         __DATA_START__ = .;
-        *(.data*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.data*))
         __DATA_END__ = .;
     } >RAM
 
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ SECTIONS
      */
     .bss (NOLOAD) : ALIGN(16) {
         __BSS_START__ = .;
-        *(.bss*)
+        *(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.bss*))
         *(COMMON)
 #if !USE_COHERENT_MEM
         /*