diff --git a/cpukit/ChangeLog b/cpukit/ChangeLog
index 1037b501f3..0f9d243c01 100644
--- a/cpukit/ChangeLog
+++ b/cpukit/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2008-07-16	Till Straumann <strauman@slac.stanford.edu>
+
+	* score/cpu/powerpc/rtems/powerpc/registers.h:
+	added ppc_interrupt_get_disable_mask() inline function.
+
 2008-07-16	Joel Sherrill <joel.sherrill@oarcorp.com>
 
 	* libmisc/shell/shellconfig.h, libmisc/stackchk/stackchk.h: Fix typos.
diff --git a/cpukit/score/cpu/powerpc/rtems/powerpc/registers.h b/cpukit/score/cpu/powerpc/rtems/powerpc/registers.h
index 312dbcc75a..61fca2efbe 100644
--- a/cpukit/score/cpu/powerpc/rtems/powerpc/registers.h
+++ b/cpukit/score/cpu/powerpc/rtems/powerpc/registers.h
@@ -345,6 +345,16 @@ static inline void ppc_interrupt_set_disable_mask( uint32_t mask)
   );
 }
 
+static inline uint32_t ppc_interrupt_get_disable_mask()
+{
+uint32_t mask;
+  asm volatile (
+    "mfspr %0,272"
+    : "=r" (mask)
+  );
+  return mask;
+}
+
 static inline uint32_t ppc_interrupt_disable()
 {
   uint32_t level;