diff --git a/fs/read_write.c b/fs/read_write.c
index 4ed839b..f792000 100644
--- a/fs/read_write.c
+++ b/fs/read_write.c
@@ -511,6 +511,74 @@
 /* A write operation does a read from user space and vice versa */
 #define vrfy_dir(type) ((type) == READ ? VERIFY_WRITE : VERIFY_READ)
 
+ssize_t rw_copy_check_uvector(int type, const struct iovec __user * uvector,
+			      unsigned long nr_segs, unsigned long fast_segs,
+			      struct iovec *fast_pointer,
+			      struct iovec **ret_pointer)
+  {
+	unsigned long seg;
+  	ssize_t ret;
+	struct iovec *iov = fast_pointer;
+
+  	/*
+  	 * SuS says "The readv() function *may* fail if the iovcnt argument
+  	 * was less than or equal to 0, or greater than {IOV_MAX}.  Linux has
+  	 * traditionally returned zero for zero segments, so...
+  	 */
+	if (nr_segs == 0) {
+		ret = 0;
+  		goto out;
+	}
+
+  	/*
+  	 * First get the "struct iovec" from user memory and
+  	 * verify all the pointers
+  	 */
+	if (nr_segs > UIO_MAXIOV) {
+		ret = -EINVAL;
+  		goto out;
+	}
+	if (nr_segs > fast_segs) {
+  		iov = kmalloc(nr_segs*sizeof(struct iovec), GFP_KERNEL);
+		if (iov == NULL) {
+			ret = -ENOMEM;
+  			goto out;
+		}
+  	}
+	if (copy_from_user(iov, uvector, nr_segs*sizeof(*uvector))) {
+		ret = -EFAULT;
+  		goto out;
+	}
+
+  	/*
+	 * According to the Single Unix Specification we should return EINVAL
+	 * if an element length is < 0 when cast to ssize_t or if the
+	 * total length would overflow the ssize_t return value of the
+	 * system call.
+  	 */
+	ret = 0;
+  	for (seg = 0; seg < nr_segs; seg++) {
+  		void __user *buf = iov[seg].iov_base;
+  		ssize_t len = (ssize_t)iov[seg].iov_len;
+
+		/* see if we we're about to use an invalid len or if
+		 * it's about to overflow ssize_t */
+		if (len < 0 || (ret + len < ret)) {
+			ret = -EINVAL;
+  			goto out;
+		}
+		if (unlikely(!access_ok(vrfy_dir(type), buf, len))) {
+			ret = -EFAULT;
+  			goto out;
+		}
+
+		ret += len;
+  	}
+out:
+	*ret_pointer = iov;
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static ssize_t do_readv_writev(int type, struct file *file,
 			       const struct iovec __user * uvector,
 			       unsigned long nr_segs, loff_t *pos)
@@ -519,64 +587,20 @@
 	struct iovec iovstack[UIO_FASTIOV];
 	struct iovec *iov = iovstack;
 	ssize_t ret;
-	int seg;
 	io_fn_t fn;
 	iov_fn_t fnv;
 
-	/*
-	 * SuS says "The readv() function *may* fail if the iovcnt argument
-	 * was less than or equal to 0, or greater than {IOV_MAX}.  Linux has
-	 * traditionally returned zero for zero segments, so...
-	 */
-	ret = 0;
-	if (nr_segs == 0)
-		goto out;
-
-	/*
-	 * First get the "struct iovec" from user memory and
-	 * verify all the pointers
-	 */
-	ret = -EINVAL;
-	if (nr_segs > UIO_MAXIOV)
-		goto out;
-	if (!file->f_op)
-		goto out;
-	if (nr_segs > UIO_FASTIOV) {
-		ret = -ENOMEM;
-		iov = kmalloc(nr_segs*sizeof(struct iovec), GFP_KERNEL);
-		if (!iov)
-			goto out;
-	}
-	ret = -EFAULT;
-	if (copy_from_user(iov, uvector, nr_segs*sizeof(*uvector)))
-		goto out;
-
-	/*
-	 * Single unix specification:
-	 * We should -EINVAL if an element length is not >= 0 and fitting an
-	 * ssize_t.  The total length is fitting an ssize_t
-	 *
-	 * Be careful here because iov_len is a size_t not an ssize_t
-	 */
-	tot_len = 0;
-	ret = -EINVAL;
-	for (seg = 0; seg < nr_segs; seg++) {
-		void __user *buf = iov[seg].iov_base;
-		ssize_t len = (ssize_t)iov[seg].iov_len;
-
-		if (len < 0)	/* size_t not fitting an ssize_t .. */
-			goto out;
-		if (unlikely(!access_ok(vrfy_dir(type), buf, len)))
-			goto Efault;
-		tot_len += len;
-		if ((ssize_t)tot_len < 0) /* maths overflow on the ssize_t */
-			goto out;
-	}
-	if (tot_len == 0) {
-		ret = 0;
+	if (!file->f_op) {
+		ret = -EINVAL;
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	ret = rw_copy_check_uvector(type, uvector, nr_segs,
+			ARRAY_SIZE(iovstack), iovstack, &iov);
+	if (ret <= 0)
+		goto out;
+
+	tot_len = ret;
 	ret = rw_verify_area(type, file, pos, tot_len);
 	if (ret < 0)
 		goto out;
@@ -609,9 +633,6 @@
 			fsnotify_modify(file->f_dentry);
 	}
 	return ret;
-Efault:
-	ret = -EFAULT;
-	goto out;
 }
 
 ssize_t vfs_readv(struct file *file, const struct iovec __user *vec,