diff --git ld/emultempl/avrelf.em ld/emultempl/avrelf.em
index 90894a1..5f064b2 100644
--- ld/emultempl/avrelf.em
+++ ld/emultempl/avrelf.em
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ fragment <<EOF
 
 #include "elf32-avr.h"
 #include "ldctor.h"
+#include "libiberty.h"
+#include "ldmain.h"
 
 /* The fake file and it's corresponding section meant to hold
    the linker stubs if needed.  */
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@ static bfd_boolean avr_debug_relax = FALSE;
 static bfd_boolean avr_debug_stubs = FALSE;
 static bfd_boolean avr_replace_call_ret_sequences = TRUE;
 static bfd_vma avr_pc_wrap_around = 0x10000000;
+static char* device_name = NULL;
 
 /* Transfers information to the bfd frontend.  */
 
@@ -176,6 +179,40 @@ avr_elf_before_parse (void)
   gld${EMULATION_NAME}_before_parse ();
 }
 
+
+static void
+add_device_specific_linker_configuration_to_bfd(void)
+{
+  /* If the device name is not passed, then it could be that the linker is invoked with a emulation name, so skip adding the device specific file. But the variables in the original linker script should be handled properly in that case. */
+  if(!device_name)
+    return;
+
+  /* We are going to assume that the defs file will be in <avr-ld path>/../avr/lib/defs */
+  /* first step is to get the parent directory of avr-ld */
+  char* binpath = make_relative_prefix(program_name,".",".");
+
+  /*Allocate a string to construct a full path */
+  char *defs_path = malloc (strlen(binpath) + strlen("../lib/defs/") + strlen(device_name));
+  
+  /* Now construct the path */
+  strcpy(defs_path, binpath);
+  strcat(defs_path, "../lib/defs/");   /* Check if this path actually exists and if it doesn't then warn/error/ what ?
+  strcat(defs_path,device_name);
+   
+  /* free allocated variables. Note that we also free the global variable device_name, which is used only here. */
+  free(binpath);
+  free(device_name);
+
+  /* Now add the file as a input to the list of bfd's that will be processed */
+  lang_add_input_file(defs_path , lang_input_file_is_file_enum, NULL);
+}
+
+static void
+avr_elf_after_parse (void)
+{
+  add_device_specific_linker_configuration_to_bfd();
+}
+
 EOF
 
 
@@ -186,6 +223,8 @@ PARSE_AND_LIST_PROLOGUE='
 #define OPTION_NO_STUBS                303
 #define OPTION_DEBUG_STUBS             304
 #define OPTION_DEBUG_RELAX             305
+#define OPTION_MCU_PARAMETER           306
+
 '
 
 PARSE_AND_LIST_LONGOPTS='
@@ -199,6 +238,8 @@ PARSE_AND_LIST_LONGOPTS='
     NULL, OPTION_DEBUG_STUBS},
   { "debug-relax", no_argument,
     NULL, OPTION_DEBUG_RELAX},
+  { "part", required_argument,
+    NULL, OPTION_MCU_PARAMETER},
 '
 
 PARSE_AND_LIST_OPTIONS='
@@ -228,6 +269,8 @@ PARSE_AND_LIST_OPTIONS='
 		   "Used for debugging avr-ld.\n"));
   fprintf (file, _("  --debug-relax               "
 		   "Used for debugging avr-ld.\n"));
+  fprintf (file, _("  --part                      "
+		   "The mcu parameter as passed from the compiler. This should be explicitly mentioned when invoking the linker separately.\n"));
 '
 
 PARSE_AND_LIST_ARGS_CASES='
@@ -266,6 +309,17 @@ PARSE_AND_LIST_ARGS_CASES='
         avr_replace_call_ret_sequences = FALSE;
       }
       break;
+   case OPTION_MCU_PARAMETER:
+      {
+	 /* cache the name of the device here. Then use it in after_parse, where we try to construct the path to the device specific linker configuration file.
+          */
+         if(optarg)
+         {
+           /* cache optarg */
+           device_name=malloc(strlen(optarg));
+           strcpy(device_name,optarg);
+         }
+      }
 '
 
 #
@@ -275,3 +329,4 @@ LDEMUL_BEFORE_PARSE=avr_elf_before_parse
 LDEMUL_BEFORE_ALLOCATION=avr_elf_${EMULATION_NAME}_before_allocation
 LDEMUL_AFTER_ALLOCATION=avr_elf_after_allocation
 LDEMUL_CREATE_OUTPUT_SECTION_STATEMENTS=avr_elf_create_output_section_statements
+LDEMUL_AFTER_PARSE=avr_elf_after_parse