diff --git a/include/common/bl_common.h b/include/common/bl_common.h
index 4ef916f..09a394d 100644
--- a/include/common/bl_common.h
+++ b/include/common/bl_common.h
@@ -64,33 +64,41 @@
 #include <types.h>
 #include <utils_def.h> /* To retain compatibility */
 
+
 /*
  * Declarations of linker defined symbols to help determine memory layout of
  * BL images
  */
 #if SEPARATE_CODE_AND_RODATA
-extern uintptr_t __TEXT_START__;
-extern uintptr_t __TEXT_END__;
-extern uintptr_t __RODATA_START__;
-extern uintptr_t __RODATA_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __TEXT_START__,	BL_CODE_BASE);
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __TEXT_END__,		BL_CODE_END);
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __RODATA_START__,	BL_RO_DATA_BASE);
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __RODATA_END__,	BL_RO_DATA_END);
 #else
-extern uintptr_t __RO_START__;
-extern uintptr_t __RO_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __RO_START__,		BL_CODE_BASE);
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __RO_END__,		BL_CODE_END);
 #endif
 
 #if defined(IMAGE_BL2)
-extern uintptr_t __BL2_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __BL2_END__,		BL2_END);
 #elif defined(IMAGE_BL2U)
-extern uintptr_t __BL2U_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __BL2U_END__,		BL2U_END);
 #elif defined(IMAGE_BL31)
-extern uintptr_t __BL31_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __BL31_END__,		BL31_END);
 #elif defined(IMAGE_BL32)
-extern uintptr_t __BL32_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __BL32_END__,		BL32_END);
 #endif /* IMAGE_BLX */
 
+/*
+ * The next 2 constants identify the extents of the coherent memory region.
+ * These addresses are used by the MMU setup code and therefore they must be
+ * page-aligned.  It is the responsibility of the linker script to ensure that
+ * __COHERENT_RAM_START__ and __COHERENT_RAM_END__ linker symbols refer to
+ * page-aligned addresses.
+ */
 #if USE_COHERENT_MEM
-extern uintptr_t __COHERENT_RAM_START__;
-extern uintptr_t __COHERENT_RAM_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __COHERENT_RAM_START__,	BL_COHERENT_RAM_BASE);
+IMPORT_SYM(unsigned long, __COHERENT_RAM_END__,		BL_COHERENT_RAM_END);
 #endif
 
 /*******************************************************************************
diff --git a/include/common/runtime_svc.h b/include/common/runtime_svc.h
index d12af22..5d9fa39 100644
--- a/include/common/runtime_svc.h
+++ b/include/common/runtime_svc.h
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@
 void runtime_svc_init(void);
 uintptr_t handle_runtime_svc(uint32_t smc_fid, void *cookie, void *handle,
 						unsigned int flags);
-extern uintptr_t __RT_SVC_DESCS_START__;
-extern uintptr_t __RT_SVC_DESCS_END__;
+IMPORT_SYM(uintptr_t, __RT_SVC_DESCS_START__,		RT_SVC_DESCS_START);
+IMPORT_SYM(uintptr_t, __RT_SVC_DESCS_END__,		RT_SVC_DESCS_END);
 void init_crash_reporting(void);
 
 extern uint8_t rt_svc_descs_indices[MAX_RT_SVCS];
diff --git a/include/lib/utils_def.h b/include/lib/utils_def.h
index 4a5c3e0..8abc73c 100644
--- a/include/lib/utils_def.h
+++ b/include/lib/utils_def.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2016-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2016-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -99,4 +99,21 @@
 	((ARM_ARCH_MAJOR > _maj) || \
 	 ((ARM_ARCH_MAJOR == _maj) && (ARM_ARCH_MINOR >= _min)))
 
+/*
+ * Import an assembly or linker symbol as a C expression with the specified
+ * type
+ */
+#define IMPORT_SYM(type, sym, name) \
+	extern char sym[];\
+	static const __attribute__((unused)) type name = (type) sym;
+
+/*
+ * When the symbol is used to hold a pointer, its alignment can be asserted
+ * with this macro. For example, if there is a linker symbol that is going to
+ * be used as a 64-bit pointer, the value of the linker symbol must also be
+ * aligned to 64 bit. This macro makes sure this is the case.
+ */
+#define ASSERT_SYM_PTR_ALIGN(sym) assert(((size_t)(sym) % __alignof__(*(sym))) == 0)
+
+
 #endif /* __UTILS_DEF_H__ */
diff --git a/include/plat/common/common_def.h b/include/plat/common/common_def.h
index a841c3d..84923b9 100644
--- a/include/plat/common/common_def.h
+++ b/include/plat/common/common_def.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2015-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -74,33 +74,13 @@
  * page of it with the right memory attributes.
  */
 #if SEPARATE_CODE_AND_RODATA
-#define BL_CODE_BASE		(unsigned long)(&__TEXT_START__)
-#define BL_CODE_END		(unsigned long)(&__TEXT_END__)
-#define BL_RO_DATA_BASE		(unsigned long)(&__RODATA_START__)
-#define BL_RO_DATA_END		(unsigned long)(&__RODATA_END__)
 
 #define BL1_CODE_END		BL_CODE_END
-#define BL1_RO_DATA_BASE	(unsigned long)(&__RODATA_START__)
+#define BL1_RO_DATA_BASE	BL_RO_DATA_BASE
 #define BL1_RO_DATA_END		round_up(BL1_ROM_END, PAGE_SIZE)
 #else
-#define BL_CODE_BASE		(unsigned long)(&__RO_START__)
-#define BL_CODE_END		(unsigned long)(&__RO_END__)
 #define BL_RO_DATA_BASE		0
 #define BL_RO_DATA_END		0
-
 #define BL1_CODE_END		round_up(BL1_ROM_END, PAGE_SIZE)
-#define BL1_RO_DATA_BASE	0
-#define BL1_RO_DATA_END		0
 #endif /* SEPARATE_CODE_AND_RODATA */
-
-/*
- * The next 2 constants identify the extents of the coherent memory region.
- * These addresses are used by the MMU setup code and therefore they must be
- * page-aligned.  It is the responsibility of the linker script to ensure that
- * __COHERENT_RAM_START__ and __COHERENT_RAM_END__ linker symbols refer to
- * page-aligned addresses.
- */
-#define BL_COHERENT_RAM_BASE	(unsigned long)(&__COHERENT_RAM_START__)
-#define BL_COHERENT_RAM_END	(unsigned long)(&__COHERENT_RAM_END__)
-
 #endif /* __COMMON_DEF_H__ */
diff --git a/include/services/secure_partition.h b/include/services/secure_partition.h
index 93df2a1..f68f711 100644
--- a/include/services/secure_partition.h
+++ b/include/services/secure_partition.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -11,15 +11,11 @@
 #include <types.h>
 #include <utils_def.h>
 
-/* Linker symbols */
-extern uintptr_t __SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_START__;
-extern uintptr_t __SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_END__;
+/* Import linker symbols */
+IMPORT_SYM(uintptr_t, __SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_START__,	SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_START);
+IMPORT_SYM(uintptr_t, __SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_END__,	SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_END);
 
 /* Definitions */
-#define SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_START	\
-	(uintptr_t)(&__SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_START__)
-#define SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_END	\
-	(uintptr_t)(&__SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_END__)
 #define SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_SIZE	\
 	(SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_END - SP_IMAGE_XLAT_TABLES_START)