diff --git a/gcc/ChangeLog b/gcc/ChangeLog
index 3bfb9960a72..c1b0859f4bf 100644
--- a/gcc/ChangeLog
+++ b/gcc/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2004-02-03  Richard Sandiford  <rsandifo@redhat.com>
+
+	* config/mips/iris5.h (ASM_OUTPUT_ASCII): Use mips_output_ascii to
+	put the original string in a comment.
+	* config/mips/mips-protos.h (mips_output_ascii): Add prefix argument.
+	* config/mips/mips.c (mips_output_ascii): Likewise.
+	* config/mips/mips.h (ASM_OUTPUT_ASCII): Adjust accordingly.
+
 2004-02-03  Kazu Hirata  <kazu@cs.umass.edu>
 
 	* system.h (GIV_SORT_CRITERION): Poison.
diff --git a/gcc/config/mips/iris5.h b/gcc/config/mips/iris5.h
index 41de65223f9..c1edeed295d 100644
--- a/gcc/config/mips/iris5.h
+++ b/gcc/config/mips/iris5.h
@@ -193,13 +193,16 @@ Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.  */
 #define MIPS_DEFAULT_GVALUE 0
 
 /* Some assemblers have a bug that causes backslash escaped chars in .ascii
-   to be misassembled, so we just completely avoid it.  */
+   to be misassembled, so avoid it by using .byte instead.  Write the original
+   string in a comment, partly to improve readability and partly for the sake
+   of scan-assembler-type tests.  */
 #undef ASM_OUTPUT_ASCII
 #define ASM_OUTPUT_ASCII(FILE,PTR,LEN)				\
 do {								\
   const unsigned char *s_ = (const unsigned char *)(PTR);	\
   unsigned len_ = (LEN);					\
   unsigned i_;							\
+  mips_output_ascii (FILE, (const char *) s_, len_, "\t# ");	\
   for (i_ = 0; i_ < len_; s_++, i_++)				\
     {								\
       if ((i_ % 8) == 0)					\
diff --git a/gcc/config/mips/mips-protos.h b/gcc/config/mips/mips-protos.h
index 5c0081f0fba..8a55e1ac125 100644
--- a/gcc/config/mips/mips-protos.h
+++ b/gcc/config/mips/mips-protos.h
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ extern void irix_output_external_libcall (rtx);
 #endif
 extern void mips_output_filename (FILE *, const char *);
 extern void mips_output_lineno (FILE *, int);
-extern void mips_output_ascii (FILE *, const char *, size_t);
+extern void mips_output_ascii (FILE *, const char *, size_t, const char *);
 extern void mips_output_aligned_bss (FILE *, tree, const char *,
 				     unsigned HOST_WIDE_INT, int);
 extern void mips_declare_object (FILE *, const char *, const char *,
diff --git a/gcc/config/mips/mips.c b/gcc/config/mips/mips.c
index 44ed4f898b4..9b07a0dd64e 100644
--- a/gcc/config/mips/mips.c
+++ b/gcc/config/mips/mips.c
@@ -5816,17 +5816,20 @@ mips_output_lineno (FILE *stream, int line)
     }
 }
 
-/* Output an ASCII string, in a space-saving way.  */
+/* Output an ASCII string, in a space-saving way.  PREFIX is the string
+   that should be written before the opening quote, such as "\t.ascii\t"
+   for real string data or "\t# " for a comment.  */
 
 void
-mips_output_ascii (FILE *stream, const char *string_param, size_t len)
+mips_output_ascii (FILE *stream, const char *string_param, size_t len,
+		   const char *prefix)
 {
   size_t i;
   int cur_pos = 17;
   register const unsigned char *string =
     (const unsigned char *)string_param;
 
-  fprintf (stream, "\t.ascii\t\"");
+  fprintf (stream, "%s\"", prefix);
   for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
     {
       register int c = string[i];
@@ -5886,7 +5889,7 @@ mips_output_ascii (FILE *stream, const char *string_param, size_t len)
       if (cur_pos > 72 && i+1 < len)
 	{
 	  cur_pos = 17;
-	  fprintf (stream, "\"\n\t.ascii\t\"");
+	  fprintf (stream, "\"\n%s\"", prefix);
 	}
     }
   fprintf (stream, "\"\n");
diff --git a/gcc/config/mips/mips.h b/gcc/config/mips/mips.h
index 9541c4ecf57..6b137e422bb 100644
--- a/gcc/config/mips/mips.h
+++ b/gcc/config/mips/mips.h
@@ -3301,7 +3301,7 @@ do {									\
 /* This is how to output a string.  */
 #undef ASM_OUTPUT_ASCII
 #define ASM_OUTPUT_ASCII(STREAM, STRING, LEN)				\
-  mips_output_ascii (STREAM, STRING, LEN)
+  mips_output_ascii (STREAM, STRING, LEN, "\t.ascii\t")
 
 /* Output #ident as a in the read-only data section.  */
 #undef  ASM_OUTPUT_IDENT