https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=65753
--- Comment #2 from Alexander Monakov <amonakov at gcc dot gnu.org> --- For a simpler testcase: void g(void (*f)(void)) { f(); } gcc/cc1 -fPIC -O2 -m32: g: subl $12, %esp call *16(%esp) addl $12, %esp ret Here %ebx does not come into play at all.