diff --git a/bolt/include/bolt/Core/MCPlusBuilder.h b/bolt/include/bolt/Core/MCPlusBuilder.h
index 5a8a4f6e391c9dcac77e53d033f4184f1e4f0258..2e167ffb29091cec2eace1c3302ef041d7ec49fc 100644
--- a/bolt/include/bolt/Core/MCPlusBuilder.h
+++ b/bolt/include/bolt/Core/MCPlusBuilder.h
@@ -579,6 +579,10 @@ public:
     return false;
   }
 
+  /// Return true if the hlt instruction under the x86, otherwise, default to
+  /// false.
+  virtual bool isX86HLT(const MCInst &Inst) const { return false; }
+
   /// Return the width, in bytes, of the memory access performed by \p Inst, if
   /// this is a pop instruction. Return zero otherwise.
   virtual int getPopSize(const MCInst &Inst) const {
diff --git a/bolt/lib/Core/MCPlusBuilder.cpp b/bolt/lib/Core/MCPlusBuilder.cpp
index 5d25a514862af4e182c5adb83612241a213ca748..778528d251b6b83980654929c0c456f4c848be46 100644
--- a/bolt/lib/Core/MCPlusBuilder.cpp
+++ b/bolt/lib/Core/MCPlusBuilder.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ using namespace bolt;
 using namespace MCPlus;
 
 namespace opts {
+cl::opt<bool>
+    TerminalHLT("terminal-x86-hlt",
+                cl::desc("Assume that execution stops at x86 HLT instruction"),
+                cl::init(true), cl::Hidden, cl::cat(BoltCategory));
+
 cl::opt<bool>
     TerminalTrap("terminal-trap",
                  cl::desc("Assume that execution stops at trap instruction"),
@@ -131,8 +136,13 @@ bool MCPlusBuilder::equals(const MCTargetExpr &A, const MCTargetExpr &B,
 }
 
 bool MCPlusBuilder::isTerminator(const MCInst &Inst) const {
-  return Analysis->isTerminator(Inst) ||
-         (opts::TerminalTrap && Info->get(Inst.getOpcode()).isTrap());
+  if (isX86HLT(Inst))
+    return opts::TerminalHLT;
+
+  if (Info->get(Inst.getOpcode()).isTrap())
+    return opts::TerminalTrap;
+
+  return Analysis->isTerminator(Inst);
 }
 
 void MCPlusBuilder::setTailCall(MCInst &Inst) const {
diff --git a/bolt/lib/Rewrite/RewriteInstance.cpp b/bolt/lib/Rewrite/RewriteInstance.cpp
index 43d5c0cbcdf7e28efd20170631712284fbe7013f..0c24ec652ecd3b01031fbe24e67f5791eac005bf 100644
--- a/bolt/lib/Rewrite/RewriteInstance.cpp
+++ b/bolt/lib/Rewrite/RewriteInstance.cpp
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ extern cl::opt<bool> KeepNops;
 extern cl::opt<bool> Lite;
 extern cl::list<std::string> ReorderData;
 extern cl::opt<bolt::ReorderFunctions::ReorderType> ReorderFunctions;
+extern cl::opt<bool> TerminalHLT;
 extern cl::opt<bool> TerminalTrap;
 extern cl::opt<bool> TimeBuild;
 extern cl::opt<bool> TimeRewrite;
@@ -2141,7 +2142,9 @@ void RewriteInstance::adjustCommandLineOptions() {
     if (!opts::KeepNops.getNumOccurrences())
       opts::KeepNops = true;
 
-    // Linux kernel may resume execution after a trap instruction in some cases.
+    // Linux kernel may resume execution after a trap or x86 HLT instruction.
+    if (!opts::TerminalHLT.getNumOccurrences())
+      opts::TerminalHLT = false;
     if (!opts::TerminalTrap.getNumOccurrences())
       opts::TerminalTrap = false;
   }
diff --git a/bolt/lib/Target/X86/X86MCPlusBuilder.cpp b/bolt/lib/Target/X86/X86MCPlusBuilder.cpp
index 9b51ab0763e3500a3e52c50d013554efaa63f1ad..cd6172f2b0e9db7ed937a30b7df0eee7fd1bde40 100644
--- a/bolt/lib/Target/X86/X86MCPlusBuilder.cpp
+++ b/bolt/lib/Target/X86/X86MCPlusBuilder.cpp
@@ -224,6 +224,10 @@ public:
     return Inst.getOpcode() == X86::ENDBR32 || Inst.getOpcode() == X86::ENDBR64;
   }
 
+  bool isX86HLT(const MCInst &Inst) const override {
+    return Inst.getOpcode() == X86::HLT;
+  }
+
   int getPopSize(const MCInst &Inst) const override {
     switch (Inst.getOpcode()) {
     case X86::POP16r:
diff --git a/bolt/test/X86/hlt-terminator.s b/bolt/test/X86/hlt-terminator.s
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3f67182fdf4320694d32258d2f24786d17d81528
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bolt/test/X86/hlt-terminator.s
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+## Check that HLT instruction is handled differently depending on the flags.
+## It's a terminator in the user-level code, but the execution can resume in
+## ring 0.
+
+# RUN: %clang %cflags %s -static -o %t.exe -nostdlib
+# RUN: llvm-bolt %t.exe --print-cfg --print-only=main --terminal-x86-hlt=0 \
+# RUN:   -o %t.ring0 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=CHECK-RING0
+# RUN: llvm-bolt %t.exe --print-cfg --print-only=main \
+# RUN:   -o %t.ring3 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=CHECK-RING3
+# RUN: llvm-objdump -d %t.ring0 --print-imm-hex | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=CHECK-BIN
+
+# CHECK-RING0: BB Count    : 1
+# CHECK-RING3: BB Count    : 2
+
+# CHECK-BIN: <main>:
+# CHECK-BIN-NEXT: f4                            hlt
+# CHECK-BIN-NEXT: c3                            retq
+
+.global main
+  .type main, %function
+main:
+        hlt
+        retq
+.size main, .-main