diff --git a/include/common/bl_common.ld.h b/include/common/bl_common.ld.h
index 5c5fe5b..3fc8e97 100644
--- a/include/common/bl_common.ld.h
+++ b/include/common/bl_common.ld.h
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@
 
 #ifdef __aarch64__
 #define STRUCT_ALIGN	8
+#define BSS_ALIGN	16
 #else
 #define STRUCT_ALIGN	4
+#define BSS_ALIGN	8
 #endif
 
 #define CPU_OPS						\
@@ -127,6 +129,22 @@
 	. = . + (__PERCPU_TIMESTAMP_SIZE__ * (PLATFORM_CORE_COUNT - 1)); \
 	__PMF_TIMESTAMP_END__ = .;
 
+
+/*
+ * The .bss section gets initialised to 0 at runtime.
+ * Its base address has bigger alignment for better performance of the
+ * zero-initialization code.
+ */
+#define BSS_SECTION					\
+	.bss (NOLOAD) : ALIGN(BSS_ALIGN) {		\
+		__BSS_START__ = .;			\
+		*(SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT(.bss*))		\
+		*(COMMON)				\
+		BAKERY_LOCK_NORMAL			\
+		PMF_TIMESTAMP				\
+		__BSS_END__ = .;			\
+	}
+
 /*
  * The xlat_table section is for full, aligned page tables (4K).
  * Removing them from .bss avoids forcing 4K alignment on