diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig b/arch/x86/Kconfig
index 9fc73ca17844..0a3cc347143f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig
@@ -1317,8 +1317,16 @@ config MICROCODE_AMD
 	  processors will be enabled.
 
 config MICROCODE_OLD_INTERFACE
-	def_bool y
+	bool "Ancient loading interface (DEPRECATED)"
+	default n
 	depends on MICROCODE
+	---help---
+	  DO NOT USE THIS! This is the ancient /dev/cpu/microcode interface
+	  which was used by userspace tools like iucode_tool and microcode.ctl.
+	  It is inadequate because it runs too late to be able to properly
+	  load microcode on a machine and it needs special tools. Instead, you
+	  should've switched to the early loading method with the initrd or
+	  builtin microcode by now: Documentation/x86/microcode.txt
 
 config X86_MSR
 	tristate "/dev/cpu/*/msr - Model-specific register support"
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/core.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/core.c
index 5260185cbf7b..8a4a7823451a 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/core.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/core.c
@@ -418,8 +418,9 @@ static int do_microcode_update(const void __user *buf, size_t size)
 		if (ustate == UCODE_ERROR) {
 			error = -1;
 			break;
-		} else if (ustate == UCODE_OK)
+		} else if (ustate == UCODE_NEW) {
 			apply_microcode_on_target(cpu);
+		}
 	}
 
 	return error;
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c
index 16936a24795c..a44bdbe7c55e 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/intel.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include <linux/kernel.h>
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 #include <linux/cpu.h>
+#include <linux/uio.h>
 #include <linux/mm.h>
 
 #include <asm/microcode_intel.h>
@@ -861,32 +862,33 @@ out:
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static enum ucode_state generic_load_microcode(int cpu, void *data, size_t size,
-				int (*get_ucode_data)(void *, const void *, size_t))
+static enum ucode_state generic_load_microcode(int cpu, struct iov_iter *iter)
 {
 	struct ucode_cpu_info *uci = ucode_cpu_info + cpu;
-	u8 *ucode_ptr = data, *new_mc = NULL, *mc = NULL;
-	int new_rev = uci->cpu_sig.rev;
-	unsigned int leftover = size;
 	unsigned int curr_mc_size = 0, new_mc_size = 0;
-	unsigned int csig, cpf;
 	enum ucode_state ret = UCODE_OK;
+	int new_rev = uci->cpu_sig.rev;
+	u8 *new_mc = NULL, *mc = NULL;
+	unsigned int csig, cpf;
 
-	while (leftover) {
+	while (iov_iter_count(iter)) {
 		struct microcode_header_intel mc_header;
-		unsigned int mc_size;
+		unsigned int mc_size, data_size;
+		u8 *data;
 
-		if (leftover < sizeof(mc_header)) {
-			pr_err("error! Truncated header in microcode data file\n");
+		if (!copy_from_iter_full(&mc_header, sizeof(mc_header), iter)) {
+			pr_err("error! Truncated or inaccessible header in microcode data file\n");
 			break;
 		}
 
-		if (get_ucode_data(&mc_header, ucode_ptr, sizeof(mc_header)))
-			break;
-
 		mc_size = get_totalsize(&mc_header);
-		if (!mc_size || mc_size > leftover) {
-			pr_err("error! Bad data in microcode data file\n");
+		if (mc_size < sizeof(mc_header)) {
+			pr_err("error! Bad data in microcode data file (totalsize too small)\n");
+			break;
+		}
+		data_size = mc_size - sizeof(mc_header);
+		if (data_size > iov_iter_count(iter)) {
+			pr_err("error! Bad data in microcode data file (truncated file?)\n");
 			break;
 		}
 
@@ -899,7 +901,9 @@ static enum ucode_state generic_load_microcode(int cpu, void *data, size_t size,
 			curr_mc_size = mc_size;
 		}
 
-		if (get_ucode_data(mc, ucode_ptr, mc_size) ||
+		memcpy(mc, &mc_header, sizeof(mc_header));
+		data = mc + sizeof(mc_header);
+		if (!copy_from_iter_full(data, data_size, iter) ||
 		    microcode_sanity_check(mc, 1) < 0) {
 			break;
 		}
@@ -914,14 +918,11 @@ static enum ucode_state generic_load_microcode(int cpu, void *data, size_t size,
 			mc = NULL;	/* trigger new vmalloc */
 			ret = UCODE_NEW;
 		}
-
-		ucode_ptr += mc_size;
-		leftover  -= mc_size;
 	}
 
 	vfree(mc);
 
-	if (leftover) {
+	if (iov_iter_count(iter)) {
 		vfree(new_mc);
 		return UCODE_ERROR;
 	}
@@ -945,12 +946,6 @@ static enum ucode_state generic_load_microcode(int cpu, void *data, size_t size,
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int get_ucode_fw(void *to, const void *from, size_t n)
-{
-	memcpy(to, from, n);
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static bool is_blacklisted(unsigned int cpu)
 {
 	struct cpuinfo_x86 *c = &cpu_data(cpu);
@@ -977,10 +972,12 @@ static bool is_blacklisted(unsigned int cpu)
 static enum ucode_state request_microcode_fw(int cpu, struct device *device,
 					     bool refresh_fw)
 {
-	char name[30];
 	struct cpuinfo_x86 *c = &cpu_data(cpu);
 	const struct firmware *firmware;
+	struct iov_iter iter;
 	enum ucode_state ret;
+	struct kvec kvec;
+	char name[30];
 
 	if (is_blacklisted(cpu))
 		return UCODE_NFOUND;
@@ -993,26 +990,30 @@ static enum ucode_state request_microcode_fw(int cpu, struct device *device,
 		return UCODE_NFOUND;
 	}
 
-	ret = generic_load_microcode(cpu, (void *)firmware->data,
-				     firmware->size, &get_ucode_fw);
+	kvec.iov_base = (void *)firmware->data;
+	kvec.iov_len = firmware->size;
+	iov_iter_kvec(&iter, WRITE, &kvec, 1, firmware->size);
+	ret = generic_load_microcode(cpu, &iter);
 
 	release_firmware(firmware);
 
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int get_ucode_user(void *to, const void *from, size_t n)
-{
-	return copy_from_user(to, from, n);
-}
-
 static enum ucode_state
 request_microcode_user(int cpu, const void __user *buf, size_t size)
 {
+	struct iov_iter iter;
+	struct iovec iov;
+
 	if (is_blacklisted(cpu))
 		return UCODE_NFOUND;
 
-	return generic_load_microcode(cpu, (void *)buf, size, &get_ucode_user);
+	iov.iov_base = (void __user *)buf;
+	iov.iov_len = size;
+	iov_iter_init(&iter, WRITE, &iov, 1, size);
+
+	return generic_load_microcode(cpu, &iter);
 }
 
 static struct microcode_ops microcode_intel_ops = {