Using the generic kernel function causes the
object size to increase with gcc 4.8.1.

$ size kernel/audit.o*
   text	   data	    bss	    dec	    hex	filename
  18577	   6079	   8436	  33092	   8144	kernel/audit.o.new
  18579	   6015	   8420	  33014	   80f6	kernel/audit.o.old

Unsigned...