diff --git a/README.txt b/README.txt
index 516119838..f0a42351c 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ config heirarchy.
 Instead of having to maintain a config file for every arch variant we build on,
 the kernel spec uses a nested system of configs. Each option CONFIG_FOO is
 represented by a single file named CONFIG_FOO which contains the state (=y, =m,
-=n). These options are collected in the folder baseconfig. Architecture specifi
-options are set in nested folders. An option set in a nested folder will
-override the same option set in one of the higher levels.
+=n). These options are collected in the folder base-generic. Architecture
+specific options are set in nested folders. An option set in a nested folder
+will override the same option set in one of the higher levels.
 
 The individual CONFIG_FOO files only exist in the pkg-git repository. The RPM
 contains kernel-foo.config files which are the result of combining all the
@@ -45,10 +45,10 @@ script _must_ be run each time one of the options is changed.
 Example flow:
 
 # Enable the option CONFIG_ABC123 as a module for all arches
-echo "CONFIG_ABC123=m" > baseconfig/CONFIG_ABC1234
+echo "CONFIG_ABC123=m" > configs/base-generic/CONFIG_ABC1234
 # enable the option CONFIG_XYZ321 for only x86
-echo "# CONFIG_XYZ321 is not set" > baseconfig/CONFIG_XYZ321
-echo "CONFIG_XYZ321=m" > baseconfig/x86/CONFIG_XYZ321
+echo "# CONFIG_XYZ321 is not set" > configs/base-generic/CONFIG_XYZ321
+echo "CONFIG_XYZ321=m" > configs/base-generic/x86/CONFIG_XYZ321
 # regenerate the combined config files
 ./build_configs.sh
 
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ the status quo to:
 This is done to increase coverage testing, as not many people actually
 run kernel-debug.
 
-The debug options are managed in a separate heierarchy under debugconfig. This
-works in a similar manner to baseconfig. More deeply nested folders, again,
+The debug options are managed in a separate heierarchy under base-debug. This
+works in a similar manner to base-generic. More deeply nested folders, again,
 override options. The file config_generation gives a listing of what folders
 go into each config file generated.
diff --git a/configs/build_configs.sh b/configs/build_configs.sh
index 140511f19..f345e2af7 100755
--- a/configs/build_configs.sh
+++ b/configs/build_configs.sh
@@ -4,13 +4,33 @@
 # and debug to form the necessary $PACKAGE_NAME<version>-<arch>-<variant>.config
 # files for building RHEL kernels, based on the contents of a control file
 
-PACKAGE_NAME=kernel # defines the package name used
+PACKAGE_NAME="${1:-kernel}" # defines the package name used
+KVERREL="${2:-}"
+SUBARCH="${3:-}" # defines a specific arch for use with rh-configs-arch-prep target
+SCRIPT="$(readlink -f $0)"
+OUTPUT_DIR="$PWD"
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname $SCRIPT)"
+
+# to handle this script being a symlink
+cd $SCRIPT_DIR
 
 set errexit
 set nounset
 
 control_file="config_generation"
 
+cleanup()
+{
+	rm -f config-*
+}
+
+die()
+{
+	echo "$1"
+	cleanup
+	exit 1
+}
+
 function combine_config_layer()
 {
 	dir=$1
@@ -29,14 +49,27 @@ function merge_configs()
 	archvar=$1
 	arch=$(echo "$archvar" | cut -f1 -d"-")
 	configs=$2
-	name=$PACKAGE_NAME-$archvar.config
+	name=$OUTPUT_DIR/$PACKAGE_NAME-$archvar.config
 	echo -n "Building $name ... "
 	touch config-merging config-merged
+
+	# apply base first
 	for config in $(echo $configs | sed -e 's/:/ /g')
 	do
+		perl merge.pl config-base-$config config-merging > config-merged
+		if [ ! $? -eq 0 ]; then
+			die "Failed to merge base"
+		fi
+		mv config-merged config-merging
+	done
+	for config in $(echo $configs | sed -e 's/:/ /g')
+	do
+		# not all override files exist
+		test -e config-$config || continue
+
 		perl merge.pl config-$config config-merging > config-merged
 		if [ ! $? -eq 0 ]; then
-			exit
+			die "Failed to merge configs"
 		fi
 		mv config-merged config-merging
 	done
@@ -60,10 +93,12 @@ function merge_configs()
 	echo "done"
 }
 
-glist=$(find baseconfig -type d)
-dlist=$(find debugconfig -type d)
+glist=$(find base-generic -type d)
+dlist=$(find base-debug -type d)
+gllist=$(test -d generic && find generic -type d)
+dllist=$(test -d debug && find debug -type d)
 
-for d in $glist $dlist
+for d in $glist $dlist $gllist $dllist
 do
 	combine_config_layer $d
 done
@@ -86,4 +121,15 @@ do
 	fi
 done < $control_file
 
-rm -f config-*
+# A passed in kernel version implies copy to final location
+# otherwise defer to another script
+if test -n "$KVERREL"
+then
+	for i in kernel-*.config
+	do
+		NEW="$(echo $i | sed "s/$PACKAGE_NAME-$SUBARCH/$PACKAGE_NAME-$KVERREL-$SUBARCH/")"
+		mv $i $NEW
+	done
+fi
+
+cleanup
diff --git a/configs/config_generation b/configs/config_generation
index 64ae444f4..b88a5ea94 100644
--- a/configs/config_generation
+++ b/configs/config_generation
@@ -4,33 +4,33 @@
 # config options, lowest priority to highest
 
 # x86_64
-x86_64=baseconfig:baseconfig-x86:baseconfig-x86-x86_64
-x86_64-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-x86:baseconfig-x86-x86_64:debugconfig:debugconfig-x86:debugconfig-x86-x86_64
+x86_64=generic:generic-x86:generic-x86-x86_64
+x86_64-debug=generic:generic-x86:generic-x86-x86_64:debug:debug-x86:debug-x86-x86_64
 
 # i686
-i686=baseconfig:baseconfig-x86:baseconfig-x86-i686
-i686-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-x86:baseconfig-x86-i686:debugconfig:debugconfig-x86
-i686-PAE=baseconfig:baseconfig-x86:baseconfig-x86-i686PAE
-i686-PAEdebug=baseconfig:baseconfig-x86:baseconfig-x86-i686PAE:debugconfig:debugconfig-x86
+i686=generic:generic-x86:generic-x86-i686
+i686-debug=generic:generic-x86:generic-x86-i686:debug:debug-x86
+i686-PAE=generic:generic-x86:generic-x86-i686PAE
+i686-PAEdebug=generic:generic-x86:generic-x86-i686PAE:debug:debug-x86
 
 # ppc64
-ppc64=baseconfig:baseconfig-powerpc:baseconfig-powerpc-powerpc64
-ppc64-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-powerpc:baseconfig-powerpc-powerpc64:debugconfig
+ppc64=generic:generic-powerpc:generic-powerpc-powerpc64
+ppc64-debug=generic:generic-powerpc:generic-powerpc-powerpc64:debug
 
 # ppc64le
-ppc64le=baseconfig:baseconfig-powerpc:baseconfig-powerpc-powerpc64le
-ppc64le-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-powerpc:baseconfig-powerpc-powerpc64le:debugconfig
+ppc64le=generic:generic-powerpc:generic-powerpc-powerpc64le
+ppc64le-debug=generic:generic-powerpc:generic-powerpc-powerpc64le:debug
 
 # s390x
-s390x=baseconfig:baseconfig-s390x
-s390x-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-s390x:debugconfig
+s390x=generic:generic-s390x
+s390x-debug=generic:generic-s390x:debug
 
 # aarch64
-aarch64=baseconfig:baseconfig-arm:baseconfig-arm-arm64
-aarch64-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-arm:baseconfig-arm-arm64:debugconfig:debugconfig-arm
+aarch64=generic:generic-arm:generic-arm-aarch64
+aarch64-debug=generic:generic-arm:generic-arm-aarch64:debug:debug-arm
 
 # arm
-armv7hl=baseconfig:baseconfig-arm:baseconfig-arm-armv7:baseconfig-arm-armv7-armv7
-armv7hl-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-arm:baseconfig-arm-armv7:baseconfig-arm-armv7-armv7:debugconfig:debugconfig-arm
-armv7hl-lpae=baseconfig:baseconfig-arm:baseconfig-arm-armv7:baseconfig-arm-armv7-lpae
-armv7hl-lpae-debug=baseconfig:baseconfig-arm:baseconfig-arm-armv7:baseconfig-arm-armv7-lpae:debugconfig:debugconfig-arm
+armv7hl=generic:generic-arm:generic-arm-armv7:generic-arm-armv7-armv7
+armv7hl-debug=generic:generic-arm:generic-arm-armv7:generic-arm-armv7-armv7:debug:debug-arm
+armv7hl-lpae=generic:generic-arm:generic-arm-armv7:generic-arm-armv7-lpae
+armv7hl-lpae-debug=generic:generic-arm:generic-arm-armv7:generic-arm-armv7-lpae:debug:debug-arm
diff --git a/configs/process_configs.sh b/configs/process_configs.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..4de45d65a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configs/process_configs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# This script takes the merged config files and processes them through oldconfig
+# and listnewconfig
+
+
+die()
+{
+	echo "$1"
+	exit 1
+}
+
+# stupid function to find top of tree to do kernel make configs
+switch_to_toplevel()
+{
+	path="$(pwd)"
+	while test -n "$path"
+	do
+		test -d $path/firmware && \
+			test -e $path/MAINTAINERS && \
+			test -d $path/drivers && \
+			break
+
+		path="$(dirname $path)"
+	done
+
+	test -n "$path"  || die "Can't find toplevel"
+	echo "$path"
+}
+
+checkoptions()
+{
+	/usr/bin/awk '
+
+		/is not set/ {
+			split ($0, a, "#");
+			split(a[2], b);
+			if (NR==FNR) {
+				configs[b[1]]="is not set";
+			} else {
+				if (configs[b[1]] != "" && configs[b[1]] != "is not set")
+					 print "Found # "b[1] " is not set, after generation, had " b[1] " " configs[b[1]] " in Source tree";
+			}
+		}
+
+		/=/     {
+			split ($0, a, "=");
+			if (NR==FNR) {
+				configs[a[1]]=a[2];
+			} else {
+				if (configs[a[1]] != "" && configs[a[1]] != a[2])
+					 print "Found "a[1]"="configs[a[1]]" after generation, had " a[1]"="a[2]" in Source tree";
+			}
+		}
+	' $1 $2 > .mismatches
+
+	if test -s .mismatches
+	then
+		echo "Error: Mismatches found in configuration files"
+		cat .mismatches
+		exit 1
+	fi
+}
+
+function process_configs()
+{
+	# assume we are in $source_tree/configs, need to get to top level
+	pushd $(switch_to_toplevel)
+
+	for cfg in $SCRIPT_DIR/${PACKAGE_NAME}${KVERREL}${SUBARCH}*.config
+	do
+		arch=$(head -1 $cfg | cut -b 3-)
+		cfgtmp="${cfg}.tmp"
+		cfgorig="${cfg}.orig"
+		cat $cfg > $cfgorig
+
+		echo -n "Processing $cfg ... "
+
+		# an empty grep is good but leaves a return value, so use # 'true' to bypass
+		make ARCH=$arch KCONFIG_CONFIG=$cfg listnewconfig | grep -E 'CONFIG_' > .newoptions || true
+		if test -n "$NEWOPTIONS" && test -s .newoptions
+		then
+			echo "Found unset config items, please set them to an appropriate value"
+			cat .newoptions
+			rm .newoptions
+			exit 1
+		fi
+		rm .newoptions
+
+		make ARCH=$arch KCONFIG_CONFIG=$cfg oldnoconfig > /dev/null || exit 1
+		echo "# $arch" > ${cfgtmp}
+		cat "${cfg}" >> ${cfgtmp}
+		if test -n "$CHECKOPTIONS"
+		then
+			checkoptions $cfgtmp $cfgorig
+		fi
+		mv ${cfgtmp} ${cfg}
+		rm ${cfgorig}
+		echo "done"
+	done
+	rm "$SCRIPT_DIR"/*.config.old
+	popd > /dev/null
+
+	echo "Processed config files are in $SCRIPT_DIR"
+}
+
+NEWOPTIONS=""
+CHECKOPTIONS=""
+
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]
+do
+	key="$1"
+	case $key in
+		-n)
+			NEWOPTIONS="x"
+			;;
+		-c)
+			CHECKOPTIONS="x"
+			;;
+		*)
+			break;;
+	esac
+	shift
+done
+
+PACKAGE_NAME="${1:-kernel}" # defines the package name used
+KVERREL="$(test -n "$2" && echo "-$2" || echo "")"
+SUBARCH="$(test -n "$3" && echo "-$3" || echo "")"
+SCRIPT="$(readlink -f $0)"
+OUTPUT_DIR="$PWD"
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname $SCRIPT)"
+
+# to handle this script being a symlink
+cd $SCRIPT_DIR
+
+process_configs
diff --git a/kernel.spec b/kernel.spec
index 7c19ebbe0..7d2b5c590 100644
--- a/kernel.spec
+++ b/kernel.spec
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ Source39: kernel-x86_64-debug.config
 Source40: generate_all_configs.sh
 Source41: generate_debug_configs.sh
 
-Source42: check_configs.awk
+Source42: process_configs.sh
 
 # This file is intentionally left empty in the stock kernel. Its a nicety
 # added for those wanting to do custom rebuilds with altered config opts.
@@ -1225,6 +1225,24 @@ xzcat %{SOURCE5000} | patch -p1 -F1 -s
 git commit -a -m "Stable update"
 %endif
 
+# Note: Even in the "nopatches" path some patches (build tweaks and compile
+# fixes) will always get applied; see patch defition above for details
+
+git am %{patches}
+
+# END OF PATCH APPLICATIONS
+
+# Any further pre-build tree manipulations happen here.
+
+chmod +x scripts/checkpatch.pl
+
+# This Prevents scripts/setlocalversion from mucking with our version numbers.
+touch .scmversion
+
+# Deal with configs stuff
+mkdir configs
+cd configs
+
 # Drop some necessary files from the source dir into the buildroot
 cp $RPM_SOURCE_DIR/kernel-*.config .
 cp %{SOURCE1000} .
@@ -1255,25 +1273,9 @@ do
 done
 %endif
 
-# Note: Even in the "nopatches" path some patches (build tweaks and compile
-# fixes) will always get applied; see patch defition above for details
-
-git am %{patches}
-
-# END OF PATCH APPLICATIONS
-
-# Any further pre-build tree manipulations happen here.
-
-chmod +x scripts/checkpatch.pl
-
-# This Prevents scripts/setlocalversion from mucking with our version numbers.
-touch .scmversion
-
 # only deal with configs if we are going to build for the arch
 %ifnarch %nobuildarches
 
-mkdir configs
-
 %if !%{debugbuildsenabled}
 rm -f kernel-%{version}-*debug.config
 %endif
@@ -1291,31 +1293,21 @@ CheckConfigs() {
 }
 
 cp %{SOURCE42} .
-# now run oldconfig over all the config files
-for i in *.config
-do
-  cat $i > temp-$i
-  mv $i .config
-  Arch=`head -1 .config | cut -b 3-`
-  make ARCH=$Arch listnewconfig | grep -E '^CONFIG_' >.newoptions || true
+OPTS=""
 %if %{listnewconfig_fail}
-  if [ -s .newoptions ]; then
-    cat .newoptions
-    exit 1
-  fi
+	OPTS="$OPTS -n"
 %endif
-  rm -f .newoptions
-  make ARCH=$Arch oldnoconfig
-  echo "# $Arch" > configs/$i
-  cat .config >> configs/$i
 %if %{configmismatch_fail}
-  CheckConfigs configs/$i temp-$i
+	OPTS="$OPTS -c"
 %endif
-  rm temp-$i
-done
+./process_configs.sh $OPTS kernel %{rpmversion}
+
 # end of kernel config
 %endif
 
+cd ..
+# End of Configs stuff
+
 # get rid of unwanted files resulting from patch fuzz
 find . \( -name "*.orig" -o -name "*~" \) -exec rm -f {} \; >/dev/null
 
diff --git a/process_configs.sh b/process_configs.sh
new file mode 120000
index 000000000..134a69099
--- /dev/null
+++ b/process_configs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+configs/process_configs.sh
\ No newline at end of file