diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/nops.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/nops.h
index 405b4032a60b..aff2b3356101 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/nops.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/nops.h
@@ -87,7 +87,11 @@
 #define P6_NOP8	0x0f,0x1f,0x84,0x00,0,0,0,0
 #define P6_NOP5_ATOMIC P6_NOP5
 
+#ifdef __ASSEMBLY__
+#define _ASM_MK_NOP(x) .byte x
+#else
 #define _ASM_MK_NOP(x) ".byte " __stringify(x) "\n"
+#endif
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_MK7)
 #define ASM_NOP1 _ASM_MK_NOP(K7_NOP1)