diff --git a/util/bitops.c b/util/bitops.c
index e72237ab2b..227c38b883 100644
--- a/util/bitops.c
+++ b/util/bitops.c
@@ -42,7 +42,23 @@ unsigned long find_next_bit(const unsigned long *addr, unsigned long size,
         size -= BITS_PER_LONG;
         result += BITS_PER_LONG;
     }
-    while (size & ~(BITS_PER_LONG-1)) {
+    while (size >= 4*BITS_PER_LONG) {
+        unsigned long d1, d2, d3;
+        tmp = *p;
+        d1 = *(p+1);
+        d2 = *(p+2);
+        d3 = *(p+3);
+        if (tmp) {
+            goto found_middle;
+        }
+        if (d1 | d2 | d3) {
+            break;
+        }
+        p += 4;
+        result += 4*BITS_PER_LONG;
+        size -= 4*BITS_PER_LONG;
+    }
+    while (size >= BITS_PER_LONG) {
         if ((tmp = *(p++))) {
             goto found_middle;
         }