diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/Makefile b/scripts/kconfig/Makefile
index ff4ce6e..46ddf2d 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/Makefile
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Kernel configuration targets
 # These targets are used from top-level makefile
 
-PHONY += oldconfig xconfig gconfig menuconfig config silentoldconfig update-po-config \
+PHONY += xconfig gconfig menuconfig config silentoldconfig update-po-config \
 	localmodconfig localyesconfig
 
 # Added for U-Boot
@@ -17,30 +17,31 @@
 Kconfig := Kconfig
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(quiet),silent_)
+silent := -s
+endif
+
 # We need this, in case the user has it in its environment
 unexport CONFIG_
 
 xconfig: $(obj)/qconf
-	$< $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) $(Kconfig)
 
 gconfig: $(obj)/gconf
-	$< $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) $(Kconfig)
 
 menuconfig: $(obj)/mconf
-	$< $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) $(Kconfig)
 
 config: $(obj)/conf
-	$< --oldaskconfig $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) --oldaskconfig $(Kconfig)
 
 nconfig: $(obj)/nconf
-	$< $(Kconfig)
-
-oldconfig: $(obj)/conf
-	$< --$@ $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) $(Kconfig)
 
 silentoldconfig: $(obj)/conf
 	$(Q)mkdir -p include/config include/generated
-	$< --$@ $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) --$@ $(Kconfig)
 
 localyesconfig localmodconfig: $(obj)/streamline_config.pl $(obj)/conf
 	$(Q)mkdir -p include/config include/generated
@@ -49,18 +50,18 @@
 			cmp -s .tmp.config .config ||			\
 			(mv -f .config .config.old.1;			\
 			 mv -f .tmp.config .config;			\
-			 $(obj)/conf --silentoldconfig $(Kconfig);	\
+			 $(obj)/conf $(silent) --silentoldconfig $(Kconfig); \
 			 mv -f .config.old.1 .config.old)		\
 	else								\
 			mv -f .tmp.config .config;			\
-			$(obj)/conf --silentoldconfig $(Kconfig);	\
+			$(obj)/conf $(silent) --silentoldconfig $(Kconfig); \
 	fi
 	$(Q)rm -f .tmp.config
 
 # Create new linux.pot file
 # Adjust charset to UTF-8 in .po file to accept UTF-8 in Kconfig files
 update-po-config: $(obj)/kxgettext $(obj)/gconf.glade.h
-	$(Q)echo "  GEN     config.pot"
+	$(Q)$(kecho) "  GEN     config.pot"
 	$(Q)xgettext --default-domain=linux                         \
 	    --add-comments --keyword=_ --keyword=N_                 \
 	    --from-code=UTF-8                                       \
@@ -71,65 +72,62 @@
 	$(Q)(for i in `ls $(srctree)/arch/*/Kconfig      \
 	    $(srctree)/arch/*/um/Kconfig`;               \
 	    do                                           \
-		echo "  GEN     $$i";                    \
+		$(kecho) "  GEN     $$i";                    \
 		$(obj)/kxgettext $$i                     \
 		     >> $(obj)/config.pot;               \
 	    done )
-	$(Q)echo "  GEN     linux.pot"
+	$(Q)$(kecho) "  GEN     linux.pot"
 	$(Q)msguniq --sort-by-file --to-code=UTF-8 $(obj)/config.pot \
 	    --output $(obj)/linux.pot
 	$(Q)rm -f $(obj)/config.pot
 
-PHONY += allnoconfig allyesconfig allmodconfig alldefconfig randconfig
+# These targets map 1:1 to the commandline options of 'conf'
+simple-targets := oldconfig allnoconfig allyesconfig allmodconfig \
+	alldefconfig randconfig listnewconfig olddefconfig
+PHONY += $(simple-targets)
 
-allnoconfig allyesconfig allmodconfig alldefconfig randconfig: $(obj)/conf
-	$< --$@ $(Kconfig)
+$(simple-targets): $(obj)/conf
+	$< $(silent) --$@ $(Kconfig)
 
-PHONY += listnewconfig olddefconfig oldnoconfig savedefconfig defconfig
-
-listnewconfig olddefconfig: $(obj)/conf
-	$< --$@ $(Kconfig)
+PHONY += oldnoconfig savedefconfig defconfig
 
 # oldnoconfig is an alias of olddefconfig, because people already are dependent
 # on its behavior(sets new symbols to their default value but not 'n') with the
 # counter-intuitive name.
-oldnoconfig: $(obj)/conf
-	$< --olddefconfig $(Kconfig)
+oldnoconfig: olddefconfig
 
 savedefconfig: $(obj)/conf
-	$< --$@=defconfig $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) --$@=defconfig $(Kconfig)
 
 defconfig: $(obj)/conf
 ifeq ($(KBUILD_DEFCONFIG),)
-	$< --defconfig $(Kconfig)
+	$< $(silent) --defconfig $(Kconfig)
 else
-	@echo "*** Default configuration is based on '$(KBUILD_DEFCONFIG)'"
-	$(Q)$< --defconfig=arch/$(SRCARCH)/configs/$(KBUILD_DEFCONFIG) $(Kconfig)
+	@$(kecho) "*** Default configuration is based on '$(KBUILD_DEFCONFIG)'"
+	$(Q)$< $(silent) --defconfig=arch/$(SRCARCH)/configs/$(KBUILD_DEFCONFIG) $(Kconfig)
 endif
 
 %_defconfig: $(obj)/conf
-	$(Q)$< --defconfig=arch/$(SRCARCH)/configs/$@ $(Kconfig)
+	$(Q)$< $(silent) --defconfig=arch/$(SRCARCH)/configs/$@ $(Kconfig)
 
 # Added for U-Boot (backward compatibility)
 %_config: %_defconfig
 	@:
 
-configfiles=$(wildcard $(srctree)/kernel/configs/$(1).config $(srctree)/arch/$(SRCARCH)/configs/$(1).config)
+configfiles=$(wildcard $(srctree)/kernel/configs/$@ $(srctree)/arch/$(SRCARCH)/configs/$@)
 
-define mergeconfig
-$(if $(wildcard $(objtree)/.config),, $(error You need an existing .config for this target))
-$(if $(call configfiles,$(1)),, $(error No configuration exists for this target on this architecture))
-$(Q)$(CONFIG_SHELL) $(srctree)/scripts/kconfig/merge_config.sh -m -O $(objtree) $(objtree)/.config $(call configfiles,$(1))
-$(Q)yes "" | $(MAKE) -f $(srctree)/Makefile oldconfig
-endef
+%.config: $(obj)/conf
+	$(if $(call configfiles),, $(error No configuration exists for this target on this architecture))
+	$(Q)$(CONFIG_SHELL) $(srctree)/scripts/kconfig/merge_config.sh -m .config $(configfiles)
+	+$(Q)yes "" | $(MAKE) -f $(srctree)/Makefile oldconfig
 
 PHONY += kvmconfig
-kvmconfig:
-	$(call mergeconfig,kvm_guest)
+kvmconfig: kvm_guest.config
+	@:
 
 PHONY += tinyconfig
-tinyconfig: allnoconfig
-	$(call mergeconfig,tiny)
+tinyconfig:
+	$(Q)$(MAKE) -f $(srctree)/Makefile allnoconfig tiny.config
 
 # Help text used by make help
 help:
@@ -231,7 +229,7 @@
 
 # QT needs some extra effort...
 $(obj)/.tmp_qtcheck:
-	@set -e; echo "  CHECK   qt"; dir=""; pkg=""; \
+	@set -e; $(kecho) "  CHECK   qt"; dir=""; pkg=""; \
 	if ! pkg-config --exists QtCore 2> /dev/null; then \
 	    echo "* Unable to find the QT4 tool qmake. Trying to use QT3"; \
 	    pkg-config --exists qt 2> /dev/null && pkg=qt; \