diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt b/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt
index 069fcb3eef6e..262722d8867b 100644
--- a/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt
@@ -113,6 +113,34 @@ applicable everywhere (see syntax).
 	That will limit the usefulness but on the other hand avoid
 	the illegal configurations all over.
 
+- weak reverse dependencies: "imply" <symbol> ["if" <expr>]
+  This is similar to "select" as it enforces a lower limit on another
+  symbol except that the "implied" symbol's value may still be set to n
+  from a direct dependency or with a visible prompt.
+
+  Given the following example:
+
+  config FOO
+	tristate
+	imply BAZ
+
+  config BAZ
+	tristate
+	depends on BAR
+
+  The following values are possible:
+
+	FOO		BAR		BAZ's default	choice for BAZ
+	---		---		-------------	--------------
+	n		y		n		N/m/y
+	m		y		m		M/y/n
+	y		y		y		Y/n
+	y		n		*		N
+
+  This is useful e.g. with multiple drivers that want to indicate their
+  ability to hook into a secondary subsystem while allowing the user to
+  configure that subsystem out without also having to unset these drivers.
+
 - limiting menu display: "visible if" <expr>
   This attribute is only applicable to menu blocks, if the condition is
   false, the menu block is not displayed to the user (the symbols
@@ -481,6 +509,7 @@ historical issues resolved through these different solutions.
   b) Match dependency semantics:
 	b1) Swap all "select FOO" to "depends on FOO" or,
 	b2) Swap all "depends on FOO" to "select FOO"
+  c) Consider the use of "imply" instead of "select"
 
 The resolution to a) can be tested with the sample Kconfig file
 Documentation/kbuild/Kconfig.recursion-issue-01 through the removal
diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/expr.h b/scripts/kconfig/expr.h
index 973b6f733368..a73f762c48d6 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/expr.h
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/expr.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ struct symbol {
 	struct property *prop;
 	struct expr_value dir_dep;
 	struct expr_value rev_dep;
+	struct expr_value implied;
 };
 
 #define for_all_symbols(i, sym) for (i = 0; i < SYMBOL_HASHSIZE; i++) for (sym = symbol_hash[i]; sym; sym = sym->next) if (sym->type != S_OTHER)
@@ -136,6 +137,7 @@ enum prop_type {
 	P_DEFAULT,  /* default y */
 	P_CHOICE,   /* choice value */
 	P_SELECT,   /* select BAR */
+	P_IMPLY,    /* imply BAR */
 	P_RANGE,    /* range 7..100 (for a symbol) */
 	P_ENV,      /* value from environment variable */
 	P_SYMBOL,   /* where a symbol is defined */
diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/menu.c b/scripts/kconfig/menu.c
index aed678e8a777..e9357931b47d 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/menu.c
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/menu.c
@@ -233,6 +233,8 @@ static void sym_check_prop(struct symbol *sym)
 {
 	struct property *prop;
 	struct symbol *sym2;
+	char *use;
+
 	for (prop = sym->prop; prop; prop = prop->next) {
 		switch (prop->type) {
 		case P_DEFAULT:
@@ -252,18 +254,20 @@ static void sym_check_prop(struct symbol *sym)
 			}
 			break;
 		case P_SELECT:
+		case P_IMPLY:
+			use = prop->type == P_SELECT ? "select" : "imply";
 			sym2 = prop_get_symbol(prop);
 			if (sym->type != S_BOOLEAN && sym->type != S_TRISTATE)
 				prop_warn(prop,
-				    "config symbol '%s' uses select, but is "
-				    "not boolean or tristate", sym->name);
+				    "config symbol '%s' uses %s, but is "
+				    "not boolean or tristate", sym->name, use);
 			else if (sym2->type != S_UNKNOWN &&
 				 sym2->type != S_BOOLEAN &&
 				 sym2->type != S_TRISTATE)
 				prop_warn(prop,
-				    "'%s' has wrong type. 'select' only "
+				    "'%s' has wrong type. '%s' only "
 				    "accept arguments of boolean and "
-				    "tristate type", sym2->name);
+				    "tristate type", sym2->name, use);
 			break;
 		case P_RANGE:
 			if (sym->type != S_INT && sym->type != S_HEX)
@@ -333,6 +337,10 @@ void menu_finalize(struct menu *parent)
 					struct symbol *es = prop_get_symbol(prop);
 					es->rev_dep.expr = expr_alloc_or(es->rev_dep.expr,
 							expr_alloc_and(expr_alloc_symbol(menu->sym), expr_copy(dep)));
+				} else if (prop->type == P_IMPLY) {
+					struct symbol *es = prop_get_symbol(prop);
+					es->implied.expr = expr_alloc_or(es->implied.expr,
+							expr_alloc_and(expr_alloc_symbol(menu->sym), expr_copy(dep)));
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -612,13 +620,30 @@ static struct property *get_symbol_prop(struct symbol *sym)
 	return prop;
 }
 
+static void get_symbol_props_str(struct gstr *r, struct symbol *sym,
+				 enum prop_type tok, const char *prefix)
+{
+	bool hit = false;
+	struct property *prop;
+
+	for_all_properties(sym, prop, tok) {
+		if (!hit) {
+			str_append(r, prefix);
+			hit = true;
+		} else
+			str_printf(r, " && ");
+		expr_gstr_print(prop->expr, r);
+	}
+	if (hit)
+		str_append(r, "\n");
+}
+
 /*
  * head is optional and may be NULL
  */
 static void get_symbol_str(struct gstr *r, struct symbol *sym,
 		    struct list_head *head)
 {
-	bool hit;
 	struct property *prop;
 
 	if (sym && sym->name) {
@@ -648,22 +673,20 @@ static void get_symbol_str(struct gstr *r, struct symbol *sym,
 		}
 	}
 
-	hit = false;
-	for_all_properties(sym, prop, P_SELECT) {
-		if (!hit) {
-			str_append(r, "  Selects: ");
-			hit = true;
-		} else
-			str_printf(r, " && ");
-		expr_gstr_print(prop->expr, r);
-	}
-	if (hit)
-		str_append(r, "\n");
+	get_symbol_props_str(r, sym, P_SELECT, _("  Selects: "));
 	if (sym->rev_dep.expr) {
 		str_append(r, _("  Selected by: "));
 		expr_gstr_print(sym->rev_dep.expr, r);
 		str_append(r, "\n");
 	}
+
+	get_symbol_props_str(r, sym, P_IMPLY, _("  Implies: "));
+	if (sym->implied.expr) {
+		str_append(r, _("  Implied by: "));
+		expr_gstr_print(sym->implied.expr, r);
+		str_append(r, "\n");
+	}
+
 	str_append(r, "\n\n");
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/symbol.c b/scripts/kconfig/symbol.c
index 2432298487fb..20136ffefb23 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/symbol.c
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/symbol.c
@@ -258,6 +258,15 @@ static void sym_calc_visibility(struct symbol *sym)
 		sym->rev_dep.tri = tri;
 		sym_set_changed(sym);
 	}
+	tri = no;
+	if (sym->implied.expr && sym->dir_dep.tri != no)
+		tri = expr_calc_value(sym->implied.expr);
+	if (tri == mod && sym_get_type(sym) == S_BOOLEAN)
+		tri = yes;
+	if (sym->implied.tri != tri) {
+		sym->implied.tri = tri;
+		sym_set_changed(sym);
+	}
 }
 
 /*
@@ -397,6 +406,10 @@ void sym_calc_value(struct symbol *sym)
 					newval.tri = EXPR_AND(expr_calc_value(prop->expr),
 							      prop->visible.tri);
 				}
+				if (sym->implied.tri != no) {
+					sym->flags |= SYMBOL_WRITE;
+					newval.tri = EXPR_OR(newval.tri, sym->implied.tri);
+				}
 			}
 		calc_newval:
 			if (sym->dir_dep.tri == no && sym->rev_dep.tri != no) {
@@ -413,7 +426,8 @@ void sym_calc_value(struct symbol *sym)
 			}
 			newval.tri = EXPR_OR(newval.tri, sym->rev_dep.tri);
 		}
-		if (newval.tri == mod && sym_get_type(sym) == S_BOOLEAN)
+		if (newval.tri == mod &&
+		    (sym_get_type(sym) == S_BOOLEAN || sym->implied.tri == yes))
 			newval.tri = yes;
 		break;
 	case S_STRING:
@@ -498,6 +512,8 @@ bool sym_tristate_within_range(struct symbol *sym, tristate val)
 		return false;
 	if (sym->visible <= sym->rev_dep.tri)
 		return false;
+	if (sym->implied.tri == yes && val == mod)
+		return false;
 	if (sym_is_choice_value(sym) && sym->visible == yes)
 		return val == yes;
 	return val >= sym->rev_dep.tri && val <= sym->visible;
@@ -750,6 +766,10 @@ const char *sym_get_string_default(struct symbol *sym)
 	if (sym->type == S_BOOLEAN && val == mod)
 		val = yes;
 
+	/* adjust the default value if this symbol is implied by another */
+	if (val < sym->implied.tri)
+		val = sym->implied.tri;
+
 	switch (sym->type) {
 	case S_BOOLEAN:
 	case S_TRISTATE:
@@ -1352,6 +1372,8 @@ const char *prop_get_type_name(enum prop_type type)
 		return "choice";
 	case P_SELECT:
 		return "select";
+	case P_IMPLY:
+		return "imply";
 	case P_RANGE:
 		return "range";
 	case P_SYMBOL:
diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.gperf b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.gperf
index ac498f01b449..ead02edec936 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.gperf
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.gperf
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ int,		T_TYPE,		TF_COMMAND, S_INT
 hex,		T_TYPE,		TF_COMMAND, S_HEX
 string,		T_TYPE,		TF_COMMAND, S_STRING
 select,		T_SELECT,	TF_COMMAND
+imply,		T_IMPLY,	TF_COMMAND
 range,		T_RANGE,	TF_COMMAND
 visible,	T_VISIBLE,	TF_COMMAND
 option,		T_OPTION,	TF_COMMAND
diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y
index 71bf8bff696a..001305fa080b 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/zconf.y
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ struct symbol *symbol_hash[SYMBOL_HASHSIZE];
 static struct menu *current_menu, *current_entry;
 
 %}
-%expect 30
+%expect 32
 
 %union
 {
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ static struct menu *current_menu, *current_entry;
 %token <id>T_TYPE
 %token <id>T_DEFAULT
 %token <id>T_SELECT
+%token <id>T_IMPLY
 %token <id>T_RANGE
 %token <id>T_VISIBLE
 %token <id>T_OPTION
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ stmt_list:
 ;
 
 option_name:
-	T_DEPENDS | T_PROMPT | T_TYPE | T_SELECT | T_OPTIONAL | T_RANGE | T_DEFAULT | T_VISIBLE
+	T_DEPENDS | T_PROMPT | T_TYPE | T_SELECT | T_IMPLY | T_OPTIONAL | T_RANGE | T_DEFAULT | T_VISIBLE
 ;
 
 common_stmt:
@@ -216,6 +217,12 @@ config_option: T_SELECT T_WORD if_expr T_EOL
 	printd(DEBUG_PARSE, "%s:%d:select\n", zconf_curname(), zconf_lineno());
 };
 
+config_option: T_IMPLY T_WORD if_expr T_EOL
+{
+	menu_add_symbol(P_IMPLY, sym_lookup($2, 0), $3);
+	printd(DEBUG_PARSE, "%s:%d:imply\n", zconf_curname(), zconf_lineno());
+};
+
 config_option: T_RANGE symbol symbol if_expr T_EOL
 {
 	menu_add_expr(P_RANGE, expr_alloc_comp(E_RANGE,$2, $3), $4);
@@ -664,6 +671,11 @@ static void print_symbol(FILE *out, struct menu *menu)
 			expr_fprint(prop->expr, out);
 			fputc('\n', out);
 			break;
+		case P_IMPLY:
+			fputs( "  imply ", out);
+			expr_fprint(prop->expr, out);
+			fputc('\n', out);
+			break;
 		case P_RANGE:
 			fputs( "  range ", out);
 			expr_fprint(prop->expr, out);