diff --git a/libavutil/Makefile b/libavutil/Makefile
index 545e1c23aaad5fca7ff1e0b1579c5834930c8ad1..22b5452f55cfbeaae8e665ba3afad703d8e83632 100644
--- a/libavutil/Makefile
+++ b/libavutil/Makefile
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ OBJS = adler32.o                                                        \
        tree.o                                                           \
        utils.o                                                          \
 
+OBJS-$(ARCH_ARM) += arm/cpu.o
+OBJS-$(ARCH_PPC) += ppc/cpu.o
+OBJS-$(ARCH_X86) += x86/cpu.o
+
 TESTPROGS = adler32 aes base64 cpu crc des lls md5 pca sha softfloat tree
 TESTPROGS-$(HAVE_LZO1X_999_COMPRESS) += lzo
 
diff --git a/libavutil/arm/cpu.h b/libavutil/arm/cpu.c
similarity index 88%
rename from libavutil/arm/cpu.h
rename to libavutil/arm/cpu.c
index 45ab761406ca1c5b61cf886e670ace34d3fad66e..742c3e498d0fdf02dcfdae5d96b180896e9d415f 100644
--- a/libavutil/arm/cpu.h
+++ b/libavutil/arm/cpu.c
@@ -16,14 +16,10 @@
  * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
  */
 
-#ifndef AVUTIL_ARM_CPU_H
-#define AVUTIL_ARM_CPU_H
-
+#include "libavutil/cpu.h"
 #include "config.h"
 
-int av_get_cpu_flags(void)
+int ff_get_cpu_flags_arm(void)
 {
     return HAVE_IWMMXT * AV_CPU_FLAG_IWMMXT;
 }
-
-#endif /* AVUTIL_ARM_CPU_H */
diff --git a/libavutil/cpu.c b/libavutil/cpu.c
index fb37edb879adafdf772f0004e9e014cfa165a0ed..34530eebaf5b2baae4271973b05c2e3c9d6cfef2 100644
--- a/libavutil/cpu.c
+++ b/libavutil/cpu.c
@@ -19,18 +19,13 @@
 #include "cpu.h"
 #include "config.h"
 
-#if   ARCH_ARM
-#   include "arm/cpu.h"
-#elif ARCH_PPC
-#   include "ppc/cpu.h"
-#elif ARCH_X86
-#   include "x86/cpu.h"
-#else
 int av_get_cpu_flags(void)
 {
+    if (ARCH_ARM) return ff_get_cpu_flags_arm();
+    if (ARCH_PPC) return ff_get_cpu_flags_ppc();
+    if (ARCH_X86) return ff_get_cpu_flags_x86();
     return 0;
 }
-#endif
 
 #ifdef TEST
 
diff --git a/libavutil/cpu.h b/libavutil/cpu.h
index 08e82f1d047ae855e134bd159e70dd7f432c1c5c..71cc26529ae2efa80b496ae11a014bd0cd1cfa4e 100644
--- a/libavutil/cpu.h
+++ b/libavutil/cpu.h
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 #ifndef AVUTIL_CPU_H
 #define AVUTIL_CPU_H
 
-#include "avutil.h"
-
 #define AV_CPU_FLAG_FORCE    0x80000000 /* force usage of selected flags (OR) */
 
     /* lower 16 bits - CPU features */
@@ -46,4 +44,9 @@
  */
 int av_get_cpu_flags(void);
 
+/* The following CPU-specific functions shall not be called directly. */
+int ff_get_cpu_flags_arm(void);
+int ff_get_cpu_flags_ppc(void);
+int ff_get_cpu_flags_x86(void);
+
 #endif  /* AVUTIL_CPU_H */
diff --git a/libavutil/ppc/cpu.h b/libavutil/ppc/cpu.c
similarity index 95%
rename from libavutil/ppc/cpu.h
rename to libavutil/ppc/cpu.c
index 684361c5ff3e5bea9c97d76422c0f052f2815ad5..9dc9471b3e9bac78eafee4a5228c71106b512fc2 100644
--- a/libavutil/ppc/cpu.h
+++ b/libavutil/ppc/cpu.c
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@
  * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
  */
 
-#ifndef AVUTIL_PPC_CPU_H
-#define AVUTIL_PPC_CPU_H
-
 #ifdef __APPLE__
 #undef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
 #include <sys/sysctl.h>
@@ -32,13 +29,14 @@
 #include <proto/exec.h>
 #endif /* __APPLE__ */
 
+#include "libavutil/cpu.h"
 #include "config.h"
 
 /**
  * This function MAY rely on signal() or fork() in order to make sure AltiVec
  * is present.
  */
-int av_get_cpu_flags(void)
+int ff_get_cpu_flags_ppc(void)
 {
 #if HAVE_ALTIVEC
 #ifdef __AMIGAOS4__
@@ -84,5 +82,3 @@ int av_get_cpu_flags(void)
 #endif /* HAVE_ALTIVEC */
     return 0;
 }
-
-#endif /* AVUTIL_PPC_CPU_H */
diff --git a/libavutil/x86/cpu.h b/libavutil/x86/cpu.c
similarity index 97%
rename from libavutil/x86/cpu.h
rename to libavutil/x86/cpu.c
index 052d2c5477e567648ba7d8eb29db390b70df59f1..4df3286f39fc30ad8b6108a4209f856c08012d5a 100644
--- a/libavutil/x86/cpu.h
+++ b/libavutil/x86/cpu.c
@@ -20,9 +20,6 @@
  * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
  */
 
-#ifndef AVUTIL_X86_CPU_H2
-#define AVUTIL_X86_CPU_H2
-
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include "libavutil/x86_cpu.h"
 #include "libavutil/cpu.h"
@@ -38,7 +35,7 @@
          : "0" (index));
 
 /* Function to test if multimedia instructions are supported...  */
-int av_get_cpu_flags(void)
+int ff_get_cpu_flags_x86(void)
 {
     int rval = 0;
     int eax, ebx, ecx, edx;
@@ -124,5 +121,3 @@ int av_get_cpu_flags(void)
 
     return rval;
 }
-
-#endif /* AVUTIL_X86_CPU_H2 */