diff --git a/llvm/docs/Extensions.rst b/llvm/docs/Extensions.rst
index 89a0e80fef5ef..ecce9e1eacda5 100644
--- a/llvm/docs/Extensions.rst
+++ b/llvm/docs/Extensions.rst
@@ -28,6 +28,21 @@ hexadecimal format instead of decimal if desired.
   .section .data
   .float 0x1c2.2ap3
 
+``.prefalign`` directive
+------------------------
+
+The ``.prefalign`` directive sets the preferred alignment for a section,
+and enables the section's final alignment to be set in a way that is
+dependent on the section size (currently only supported with ELF).
+
+If the section size is less than the section's minimum alignment as
+determined using ``.align`` family directives, the section's alignment
+will be equal to its minimum alignment. Otherwise, if the section size is
+between the minimum alignment and the preferred alignment, the section's
+alignment will be equal to the power of 2 greater than or equal to the
+section size. Otherwise, the section's alignment will be equal to the
+preferred alignment.
+
 Machine-specific Assembly Syntax
 ================================
 
diff --git a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCAsmInfo.h b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCAsmInfo.h
index 7a2e9ad154f01..acf99cb8e5631 100644
--- a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCAsmInfo.h
+++ b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCAsmInfo.h
@@ -301,6 +301,9 @@ class LLVM_ABI MCAsmInfo {
   // most targets, so defaults to true.
   bool HasFunctionAlignment = true;
 
+  // True if the target respects .prefalign directives.
+  bool HasPreferredAlignment = false;
+
   /// True if the target has .type and .size directives, this is true for most
   /// ELF targets.  Defaults to true.
   bool HasDotTypeDotSizeDirective = true;
@@ -603,6 +606,7 @@ class LLVM_ABI MCAsmInfo {
   }
 
   bool hasFunctionAlignment() const { return HasFunctionAlignment; }
+  bool hasPreferredAlignment() const { return HasPreferredAlignment; }
   bool hasDotTypeDotSizeDirective() const { return HasDotTypeDotSizeDirective; }
   bool hasSingleParameterDotFile() const { return HasSingleParameterDotFile; }
   bool hasIdentDirective() const { return HasIdentDirective; }
diff --git a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCObjectStreamer.h b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCObjectStreamer.h
index 1899cb6331c6f..30dd1bc5f2242 100644
--- a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCObjectStreamer.h
+++ b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCObjectStreamer.h
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ class MCObjectStreamer : public MCStreamer {
                             unsigned MaxBytesToEmit = 0) override;
   void emitCodeAlignment(Align ByteAlignment, const MCSubtargetInfo *STI,
                          unsigned MaxBytesToEmit = 0) override;
+  void emitPrefAlign(Align Alignment) override;
   void emitValueToOffset(const MCExpr *Offset, unsigned char Value,
                          SMLoc Loc) override;
   void emitDwarfLocDirective(unsigned FileNo, unsigned Line, unsigned Column,
diff --git a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCSection.h b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCSection.h
index a26e6cfb2158a..38b512f31d5df 100644
--- a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCSection.h
+++ b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCSection.h
@@ -550,6 +550,7 @@ class LLVM_ABI MCSection {
   MCSymbol *End = nullptr;
   /// The alignment requirement of this section.
   Align Alignment;
+  MaybeAlign PreferredAlignment;
   /// The section index in the assemblers section list.
   unsigned Ordinal = 0;
   // If not -1u, the first linker-relaxable fragment's order within the
@@ -610,6 +611,19 @@ class LLVM_ABI MCSection {
       Alignment = MinAlignment;
   }
 
+  Align getPreferredAlignment() const {
+    if (!PreferredAlignment || Alignment > *PreferredAlignment)
+      return Alignment;
+    return *PreferredAlignment;
+  }
+
+  void ensurePreferredAlignment(Align PrefAlign) {
+    if (!PreferredAlignment || PrefAlign > *PreferredAlignment)
+      PreferredAlignment = PrefAlign;
+  }
+
+  Align getAlignmentForObjectFile(uint64_t Size) const;
+  
   unsigned getOrdinal() const { return Ordinal; }
   void setOrdinal(unsigned Value) { Ordinal = Value; }
 
diff --git a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCStreamer.h b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCStreamer.h
index 79c715e3820a6..0cc42f0995e5b 100644
--- a/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCStreamer.h
+++ b/llvm/include/llvm/MC/MCStreamer.h
@@ -839,6 +839,8 @@ class LLVM_ABI MCStreamer {
   virtual void emitCodeAlignment(Align Alignment, const MCSubtargetInfo *STI,
                                  unsigned MaxBytesToEmit = 0);
 
+  virtual void emitPrefAlign(Align A);
+  
   /// Emit some number of copies of \p Value until the byte offset \p
   /// Offset is reached.
   ///
diff --git a/llvm/lib/MC/ELFObjectWriter.cpp b/llvm/lib/MC/ELFObjectWriter.cpp
index 759d3e0e14291..3d7f503bf08b0 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/MC/ELFObjectWriter.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/MC/ELFObjectWriter.cpp
@@ -912,10 +912,10 @@ void ELFWriter::writeSectionHeader(uint32_t GroupSymbolIndex, uint64_t Offset,
       sh_link = Sym->getSection().getOrdinal();
   }
 
-  writeSectionHeaderEntry(StrTabBuilder.getOffset(Section.getName()),
-                          Section.getType(), Section.getFlags(), 0, Offset,
-                          Size, sh_link, sh_info, Section.getAlign(),
-                          Section.getEntrySize());
+  writeSectionHeaderEntry(
+      StrTabBuilder.getOffset(Section.getName()), Section.getType(),
+      Section.getFlags(), 0, Offset, Size, sh_link, sh_info,
+      Section.getAlignmentForObjectFile(Size), Section.getEntrySize());
 }
 
 void ELFWriter::writeSectionHeaders() {
diff --git a/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmInfoELF.cpp b/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmInfoELF.cpp
index 98090d34bcbdc..e5d33c04d6998 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmInfoELF.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmInfoELF.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ bool MCAsmInfoELF::useCodeAlign(const MCSection &Sec) const {
 
 MCAsmInfoELF::MCAsmInfoELF() {
   HasIdentDirective = true;
+  HasPreferredAlignment = true;
   WeakRefDirective = "\t.weak\t";
   PrivateGlobalPrefix = ".L";
   PrivateLabelPrefix = ".L";
diff --git a/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmStreamer.cpp b/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmStreamer.cpp
index be8c022f39ad1..47002dbcd1728 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmStreamer.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/MC/MCAsmStreamer.cpp
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ class MCAsmStreamer final : public MCStreamer {
 
   void emitCodeAlignment(Align Alignment, const MCSubtargetInfo *STI,
                          unsigned MaxBytesToEmit = 0) override;
+  void emitPrefAlign(Align Alignment) override;
 
   void emitValueToOffset(const MCExpr *Offset,
                          unsigned char Value,
@@ -1540,6 +1541,11 @@ void MCAsmStreamer::emitCodeAlignment(Align Alignment,
     emitAlignmentDirective(Alignment.value(), std::nullopt, 1, MaxBytesToEmit);
 }
 
+void MCAsmStreamer::emitPrefAlign(Align Alignment) {
+  OS << "\t.prefalign\t" << Alignment.value();
+  EmitEOL();
+}
+
 void MCAsmStreamer::emitValueToOffset(const MCExpr *Offset,
                                       unsigned char Value,
                                       SMLoc Loc) {
diff --git a/llvm/lib/MC/MCObjectStreamer.cpp b/llvm/lib/MC/MCObjectStreamer.cpp
index 701a0836d2c70..573bb02f18984 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/MC/MCObjectStreamer.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/MC/MCObjectStreamer.cpp
@@ -677,6 +677,10 @@ void MCObjectStreamer::emitCodeAlignment(Align Alignment,
   F->STI = STI;
 }
 
+void MCObjectStreamer::emitPrefAlign(Align Alignment) {
+  getCurrentSectionOnly()->ensurePreferredAlignment(Alignment);
+}
+
 void MCObjectStreamer::emitValueToOffset(const MCExpr *Offset,
                                          unsigned char Value,
                                          SMLoc Loc) {
diff --git a/llvm/lib/MC/MCParser/AsmParser.cpp b/llvm/lib/MC/MCParser/AsmParser.cpp
index acea3ab23680a..d64a3547375d6 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/MC/MCParser/AsmParser.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/MC/MCParser/AsmParser.cpp
@@ -418,6 +418,7 @@ class AsmParser : public MCAsmParser {
     DK_P2ALIGN,
     DK_P2ALIGNW,
     DK_P2ALIGNL,
+    DK_PREFALIGN,
     DK_ORG,
     DK_FILL,
     DK_ENDR,
@@ -565,6 +566,7 @@ class AsmParser : public MCAsmParser {
   bool parseDirectiveOrg(); // ".org"
   // ".align{,32}", ".p2align{,w,l}"
   bool parseDirectiveAlign(bool IsPow2, uint8_t ValueSize);
+  bool parseDirectivePrefAlign();
 
   // ".file", ".line", ".loc", ".loc_label", ".stabs"
   bool parseDirectiveFile(SMLoc DirectiveLoc);
@@ -2002,6 +2004,8 @@ bool AsmParser::parseStatement(ParseStatementInfo &Info,
       return parseDirectiveAlign(/*IsPow2=*/true, /*ExprSize=*/2);
     case DK_P2ALIGNL:
       return parseDirectiveAlign(/*IsPow2=*/true, /*ExprSize=*/4);
+    case DK_PREFALIGN:
+      return parseDirectivePrefAlign();
     case DK_ORG:
       return parseDirectiveOrg();
     case DK_FILL:
@@ -3427,6 +3431,21 @@ bool AsmParser::parseDirectiveAlign(bool IsPow2, uint8_t ValueSize) {
   return ReturnVal;
 }
 
+bool AsmParser::parseDirectivePrefAlign() {
+  SMLoc AlignmentLoc = getLexer().getLoc();
+  int64_t Alignment;
+  if (checkForValidSection() || parseAbsoluteExpression(Alignment))
+    return true;
+  if (parseEOL())
+    return true;
+
+  if (!isPowerOf2_64(Alignment))
+    return Error(AlignmentLoc, "alignment must be a power of 2");
+  getStreamer().emitPrefAlign(Align(Alignment));
+
+  return false;
+}
+
 /// parseDirectiveFile
 /// ::= .file filename
 /// ::= .file number [directory] filename [md5 checksum] [source source-text]
@@ -5365,6 +5384,7 @@ void AsmParser::initializeDirectiveKindMap() {
   DirectiveKindMap[".p2align"] = DK_P2ALIGN;
   DirectiveKindMap[".p2alignw"] = DK_P2ALIGNW;
   DirectiveKindMap[".p2alignl"] = DK_P2ALIGNL;
+  DirectiveKindMap[".prefalign"] = DK_PREFALIGN;
   DirectiveKindMap[".org"] = DK_ORG;
   DirectiveKindMap[".fill"] = DK_FILL;
   DirectiveKindMap[".zero"] = DK_ZERO;
diff --git a/llvm/lib/MC/MCSection.cpp b/llvm/lib/MC/MCSection.cpp
index a668e7919b7b9..8285379eeaf81 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/MC/MCSection.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/MC/MCSection.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ MCSymbol *MCSection::getEndSymbol(MCContext &Ctx) {
   return End;
 }
 
+Align MCSection::getAlignmentForObjectFile(uint64_t Size) const {
+  if (Size < getAlign().value())
+    return getAlign();
+
+  if (Size < getPreferredAlignment().value())
+    return Align(NextPowerOf2(Size - 1));
+
+  return getPreferredAlignment();
+}
+
 bool MCSection::hasEnded() const { return End && End->isInSection(); }
 
 #if !defined(NDEBUG) || defined(LLVM_ENABLE_DUMP)
diff --git a/llvm/lib/MC/MCStreamer.cpp b/llvm/lib/MC/MCStreamer.cpp
index bc7398120096e..f33e4348dc9ad 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/MC/MCStreamer.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/MC/MCStreamer.cpp
@@ -1339,6 +1339,7 @@ void MCStreamer::emitFill(const MCExpr &NumBytes, uint64_t Value, SMLoc Loc) {}
 void MCStreamer::emitFill(const MCExpr &NumValues, int64_t Size, int64_t Expr,
                           SMLoc Loc) {}
 void MCStreamer::emitValueToAlignment(Align, int64_t, uint8_t, unsigned) {}
+void MCStreamer::emitPrefAlign(Align A) {}
 void MCStreamer::emitCodeAlignment(Align Alignment, const MCSubtargetInfo *STI,
                                    unsigned MaxBytesToEmit) {}
 void MCStreamer::emitValueToOffset(const MCExpr *Offset, unsigned char Value,
diff --git a/llvm/test/MC/ELF/prefalign-errors.s b/llvm/test/MC/ELF/prefalign-errors.s
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..363638f9bcb1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/test/MC/ELF/prefalign-errors.s
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+// RUN: not llvm-mc -filetype=asm -triple x86_64-pc-linux-gnu %s -o - 2>&1 | FileCheck %s
+
+.section .text.f1,"ax",@progbits
+// CHECK: error: alignment must be a power of 2
+.prefalign 3
diff --git a/llvm/test/MC/ELF/prefalign.s b/llvm/test/MC/ELF/prefalign.s
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0732b64292ab2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/test/MC/ELF/prefalign.s
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+// RUN: llvm-mc -filetype=asm -triple x86_64-pc-linux-gnu %s -o - | FileCheck --check-prefix=ASM %s
+// RUN: llvm-mc -filetype=obj -triple x86_64-pc-linux-gnu %s -o - | llvm-readelf -SW - | FileCheck --check-prefix=OBJ %s
+
+// Minimum alignment >= preferred alignment, no effect on sh_addralign.
+// ASM: .section .text.f1lt
+// ASM: .p2align 2
+// ASM: .prefalign 2 
+// OBJ: .text.f1lt        PROGBITS        0000000000000000 000040 000003 00  AX  0   0  4
+.section .text.f1lt,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 2
+.rept 3
+nop
+.endr
+
+// ASM: .section .text.f1eq
+// ASM: .p2align 2
+// ASM: .prefalign 2 
+// OBJ: .text.f1eq        PROGBITS        0000000000000000 000044 000004 00  AX  0   0  4
+.section .text.f1eq,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 2
+.rept 4
+nop
+.endr
+
+// ASM: .section .text.f1gt
+// ASM: .p2align 2
+// ASM: .prefalign 2 
+// OBJ: .text.f1gt        PROGBITS        0000000000000000 000048 000005 00  AX  0   0  4
+.section .text.f1gt,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 2
+.rept 5
+nop
+.endr
+
+// Minimum alignment < preferred alignment, sh_addralign influenced by section size.
+// Use maximum of all .prefalign directives.
+// ASM: .section .text.f2lt
+// ASM: .p2align 2
+// ASM: .prefalign 8
+// ASM: .prefalign 16 
+// ASM: .prefalign 8
+// OBJ: .text.f2lt        PROGBITS        0000000000000000 000050 000003 00  AX  0   0  4
+.section .text.f2lt,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 8
+.prefalign 16
+.prefalign 8
+.rept 3
+nop
+.endr
+
+// ASM: .section .text.f2between1
+// OBJ: .text.f2between1  PROGBITS        0000000000000000 000054 000008 00  AX  0   0  8
+.section .text.f2between1,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 8
+.prefalign 16
+.prefalign 8
+.rept 8
+nop
+.endr
+
+// OBJ: .text.f2between2  PROGBITS        0000000000000000 00005c 000009 00  AX  0   0 16
+.section .text.f2between2,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 8
+.prefalign 16
+.prefalign 8
+.rept 9
+nop
+.endr
+
+// OBJ: .text.f2between3  PROGBITS        0000000000000000 000068 000010 00  AX  0   0 16
+.section .text.f2between3,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 8
+.prefalign 16
+.prefalign 8
+.rept 16
+nop
+.endr
+
+// OBJ: .text.f2gt1       PROGBITS        0000000000000000 000078 000011 00  AX  0   0 16
+.section .text.f2gt1,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 8
+.prefalign 16
+.prefalign 8
+.rept 17
+nop
+.endr
+
+// OBJ: .text.f2gt2       PROGBITS        0000000000000000 00008c 000021 00  AX  0   0 16
+.section .text.f2gt2,"ax",@progbits
+.p2align 2
+.prefalign 8
+.prefalign 16
+.prefalign 8
+.rept 33
+nop
+.endr