diff --git a/arch/ia64/kernel/crash.c b/arch/ia64/kernel/crash.c
index 3d51a3f77017..aeb79fb28f0b 100644
--- a/arch/ia64/kernel/crash.c
+++ b/arch/ia64/kernel/crash.c
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ crash_save_this_cpu(void)
 	buf = (u64 *) per_cpu_ptr(crash_notes, cpu);
 	if (!buf)
 		return;
-	buf = append_elf_note(buf, "CORE", NT_PRSTATUS, prstatus,
+	buf = append_elf_note(buf, KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_NAME, NT_PRSTATUS, prstatus,
 			sizeof(*prstatus));
 	final_note(buf);
 }
diff --git a/include/asm-arm/kexec.h b/include/asm-arm/kexec.h
index 8c1c6162a80c..b5b030ef633d 100644
--- a/include/asm-arm/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-arm/kexec.h
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 #ifndef __ASSEMBLY__
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 struct kimage;
 /* Provide a dummy definition to avoid build failures. */
 static inline void crash_setup_regs(struct pt_regs *newregs,
diff --git a/include/asm-i386/kexec.h b/include/asm-i386/kexec.h
index bcb5b21de2d2..4b9dc9e6b701 100644
--- a/include/asm-i386/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-i386/kexec.h
@@ -45,8 +45,6 @@
 /* We can also handle crash dumps from 64 bit kernel. */
 #define vmcore_elf_check_arch_cross(x) ((x)->e_machine == EM_X86_64)
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 /* CPU does not save ss and esp on stack if execution is already
  * running in kernel mode at the time of NMI occurrence. This code
  * fixes it.
diff --git a/include/asm-ia64/kexec.h b/include/asm-ia64/kexec.h
index 41299ddfee30..541be835fc5a 100644
--- a/include/asm-ia64/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-ia64/kexec.h
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 /* The native architecture */
 #define KEXEC_ARCH KEXEC_ARCH_IA_64
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 #define kexec_flush_icache_page(page) do { \
                 unsigned long page_addr = (unsigned long)page_address(page); \
                 flush_icache_range(page_addr, page_addr + PAGE_SIZE); \
diff --git a/include/asm-mips/kexec.h b/include/asm-mips/kexec.h
index b25267ebcb09..cdbab43b7d3a 100644
--- a/include/asm-mips/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-mips/kexec.h
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 /* The native architecture */
 #define KEXEC_ARCH KEXEC_ARCH_MIPS
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 static inline void crash_setup_regs(struct pt_regs *newregs,
 				    struct pt_regs *oldregs)
 {
diff --git a/include/asm-powerpc/kexec.h b/include/asm-powerpc/kexec.h
index 11cbdf81fd2e..b6f817b8ba3d 100644
--- a/include/asm-powerpc/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-powerpc/kexec.h
@@ -108,8 +108,6 @@ static inline void crash_setup_regs(struct pt_regs *newregs,
 					struct pt_regs *oldregs) { }
 #endif /* !__powerpc64 __ */
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 extern void kexec_smp_wait(void);	/* get and clear naca physid, wait for
 					  master to copy new code to 0 */
 extern int crashing_cpu;
diff --git a/include/asm-s390/kexec.h b/include/asm-s390/kexec.h
index 9c35c8ad1afd..7592af708b41 100644
--- a/include/asm-s390/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-s390/kexec.h
@@ -34,8 +34,6 @@
 /* The native architecture */
 #define KEXEC_ARCH KEXEC_ARCH_S390
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 /* Provide a dummy definition to avoid build failures. */
 static inline void crash_setup_regs(struct pt_regs *newregs,
 					struct pt_regs *oldregs) { }
diff --git a/include/asm-sh/kexec.h b/include/asm-sh/kexec.h
index da36a7548601..00f4260ef09b 100644
--- a/include/asm-sh/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-sh/kexec.h
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@
 /* The native architecture */
 #define KEXEC_ARCH KEXEC_ARCH_SH
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 static inline void crash_setup_regs(struct pt_regs *newregs,
 				    struct pt_regs *oldregs)
 {
diff --git a/include/asm-x86_64/kexec.h b/include/asm-x86_64/kexec.h
index 5fab957e1091..738e581b67f8 100644
--- a/include/asm-x86_64/kexec.h
+++ b/include/asm-x86_64/kexec.h
@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@
 /* The native architecture */
 #define KEXEC_ARCH KEXEC_ARCH_X86_64
 
-#define MAX_NOTE_BYTES 1024
-
 /*
  * Saving the registers of the cpu on which panic occured in
  * crash_kexec to save a valid sp. The registers of other cpus
diff --git a/include/linux/kexec.h b/include/linux/kexec.h
index 696e5ec63f77..8c2c7fcd58ce 100644
--- a/include/linux/kexec.h
+++ b/include/linux/kexec.h
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 #include <linux/linkage.h>
 #include <linux/compat.h>
 #include <linux/ioport.h>
+#include <linux/elfcore.h>
+#include <linux/elf.h>
 #include <asm/kexec.h>
 
 /* Verify architecture specific macros are defined */
@@ -31,6 +33,19 @@
 #error KEXEC_ARCH not defined
 #endif
 
+#define KEXEC_NOTE_HEAD_BYTES ALIGN(sizeof(struct elf_note), 4)
+#define KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_NAME "CORE"
+#define KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_NAME_BYTES ALIGN(sizeof(KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_NAME), 4)
+#define KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_DESC_BYTES ALIGN(sizeof(struct elf_prstatus), 4)
+/*
+ * The per-cpu notes area is a list of notes terminated by a "NULL"
+ * note header.  For kdump, the code in vmcore.c runs in the context
+ * of the second kernel to combine them into one note.
+ */
+#define KEXEC_NOTE_BYTES ( (KEXEC_NOTE_HEAD_BYTES * 2) +		\
+			    KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_NAME_BYTES +		\
+			    KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_DESC_BYTES )
+
 /*
  * This structure is used to hold the arguments that are used when loading
  * kernel binaries.
@@ -136,7 +151,7 @@ extern struct kimage *kexec_crash_image;
 /* Location of a reserved region to hold the crash kernel.
  */
 extern struct resource crashk_res;
-typedef u32 note_buf_t[MAX_NOTE_BYTES/4];
+typedef u32 note_buf_t[KEXEC_NOTE_BYTES/4];
 extern note_buf_t *crash_notes;
 
 
diff --git a/kernel/kexec.c b/kernel/kexec.c
index 2a59c8a01ae0..25db14b89e82 100644
--- a/kernel/kexec.c
+++ b/kernel/kexec.c
@@ -1118,8 +1118,8 @@ void crash_save_cpu(struct pt_regs *regs, int cpu)
 	memset(&prstatus, 0, sizeof(prstatus));
 	prstatus.pr_pid = current->pid;
 	elf_core_copy_regs(&prstatus.pr_reg, regs);
-	buf = append_elf_note(buf, "CORE", NT_PRSTATUS, &prstatus,
-				sizeof(prstatus));
+	buf = append_elf_note(buf, KEXEC_CORE_NOTE_NAME, NT_PRSTATUS,
+		      	      &prstatus, sizeof(prstatus));
 	final_note(buf);
 }