diff --git a/src/backend/utils/sort/tuplesort.c b/src/backend/utils/sort/tuplesort.c
new file mode 100644
index 1452e8c..e040ace
*** a/src/backend/utils/sort/tuplesort.c
--- b/src/backend/utils/sort/tuplesort.c
***************
*** 113,118 ****
--- 113,119 ----
  #include "utils/pg_rusage.h"
  #include "utils/rel.h"
  #include "utils/sortsupport.h"
+ #include "utils/template_qsort_arg.h"
  #include "utils/tuplesort.h"
  
  
*************** struct Tuplesortstate
*** 281,286 ****
--- 282,301 ----
  	int			currentRun;
  
  	/*
+ 	 * Will invocations of a tuple-class encapsulating comparator
+ 	 * (comparetup_heap, comparetup_index_btree, etc) skip the leading key,
+ 	 * because that has already been compared elsewhere?
+ 	 */
+ 	bool		skipLeadingkey;
+ 
+ 	/*
+ 	 * This specialization function pointer is sometimes used as an alternative
+ 	 * to the standard qsort_arg, when it has been determined that we can
+ 	 * benefit from various per number-of-sortkey performance optimizations.
+ 	 */
+ 	void (*qsort_arg_spec)(void *a, size_t n, size_t es, void *arg);
+ 
+ 	/*
  	 * Unless otherwise noted, all pointer variables below are pointers to
  	 * arrays of length maxTapes, holding per-tape data.
  	 */
*************** static void readtup_datum(Tuplesortstate
*** 492,497 ****
--- 507,519 ----
  static void reversedirection_datum(Tuplesortstate *state);
  static void free_sort_tuple(Tuplesortstate *state, SortTuple *stup);
  
+ /*
+  * A set of type-neutral specializations, for single sortkey and multiple
+  * sortkey sorts. These specialization are used for sorting both heap and
+  * btree index tuples that meet that criteria.
+  */
+ DO_TEMPLATE_QSORT_ARG(single, ONE_ADDITIONAL_CODE, single_comparetup_inline)
+ DO_TEMPLATE_QSORT_ARG(mult, MULTI_ADDITIONAL_CODE, mult_comparetup_inline)
  
  /*
   *		tuplesort_begin_xxx
*************** tuplesort_begin_heap(TupleDesc tupDesc,
*** 631,636 ****
--- 653,661 ----
  		PrepareSortSupportFromOrderingOp(sortOperators[i], sortKey);
  	}
  
+ 	state->qsort_arg_spec =
+ 		nkeys==1?single_qsort_arg:mult_qsort_arg;
+ 	state->skipLeadingkey = true;
  	MemoryContextSwitchTo(oldcontext);
  
  	return state;
*************** tuplesort_performsort(Tuplesortstate *st
*** 1222,1232 ****
  			 * amount of memory.  Just qsort 'em and we're done.
  			 */
  			if (state->memtupcount > 1)
! 				qsort_arg((void *) state->memtuples,
! 						  state->memtupcount,
! 						  sizeof(SortTuple),
! 						  (qsort_arg_comparator) state->comparetup,
! 						  (void *) state);
  			state->current = 0;
  			state->eof_reached = false;
  			state->markpos_offset = 0;
--- 1247,1273 ----
  			 * amount of memory.  Just qsort 'em and we're done.
  			 */
  			if (state->memtupcount > 1)
! 			{
! 				/* Use a sorting specialization if available */
! 				if (state->qsort_arg_spec)
! 					/* specialization available */
! 					state->qsort_arg_spec(
! 								(void *) state->memtuples,
! 								state->memtupcount,
! 								sizeof(SortTuple),
! 								(void *) state);
! 				else
! 					/*
! 					 * Fall back on regular qsort_arg, with function pointer
! 					 * comparator, making no compile-time assumptions about the
! 					 * number of sortkeys or the datatype(s) to be sorted.
! 					 */
! 					qsort_arg((void *) state->memtuples,
! 								  state->memtupcount,
! 								  sizeof(SortTuple),
! 								  (qsort_arg_comparator) state->comparetup,
! 								  (void *) state);
! 			}
  			state->current = 0;
  			state->eof_reached = false;
  			state->markpos_offset = 0;
*************** make_bounded_heap(Tuplesortstate *state)
*** 2407,2412 ****
--- 2448,2454 ----
  	REVERSEDIRECTION(state);
  
  	state->memtupcount = 0;		/* make the heap empty */
+ 	state->skipLeadingkey = false; /* Not using inlining optimization */
  	for (i = 0; i < tupcount; i++)
  	{
  		if (state->memtupcount >= state->bound &&
*************** comparetup_heap(const SortTuple *a, cons
*** 2660,2674 ****
  	int			nkey;
  	int32		compare;
  
! 	/* Allow interrupting long sorts */
! 	CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
! 
! 	/* Compare the leading sort key */
! 	compare = ApplySortComparator(a->datum1, a->isnull1,
! 								  b->datum1, b->isnull1,
! 								  sortKey);
! 	if (compare != 0)
! 		return compare;
  
  	/* Compare additional sort keys */
  	ltup.t_len = ((MinimalTuple) a->tuple)->t_len + MINIMAL_TUPLE_OFFSET;
--- 2702,2716 ----
  	int			nkey;
  	int32		compare;
  
! 	if (!state->skipLeadingkey)
! 	{
! 		/* Compare the leading sort key */
! 		compare = ApplySortComparator(a->datum1, a->isnull1,
! 									  b->datum1, b->isnull1,
! 									  sortKey);
! 		if (compare != 0)
! 			return compare;
! 	}
  
  	/* Compare additional sort keys */
  	ltup.t_len = ((MinimalTuple) a->tuple)->t_len + MINIMAL_TUPLE_OFFSET;
*************** comparetup_index_btree(const SortTuple *
*** 2981,2990 ****
  					   Tuplesortstate *state)
  {
  	/*
! 	 * This is similar to _bt_tuplecompare(), but we have already done the
! 	 * index_getattr calls for the first column, and we need to keep track of
! 	 * whether any null fields are present.  Also see the special treatment
! 	 * for equal keys at the end.
  	 */
  	ScanKey		scanKey = state->indexScanKey;
  	IndexTuple	tuple1;
--- 3023,3031 ----
  					   Tuplesortstate *state)
  {
  	/*
! 	 * We have already done the index_getattr calls for the first column, and we
! 	 * need to keep track of whether any null fields are present.  Also see the
! 	 * special treatment for equal keys at the end.
  	 */
  	ScanKey		scanKey = state->indexScanKey;
  	IndexTuple	tuple1;
diff --git a/src/include/c.h b/src/include/c.h
new file mode 100644
index 7396adb..939f49a
*** a/src/include/c.h
--- b/src/include/c.h
*************** extern int	fdatasync(int fildes);
*** 850,853 ****
--- 850,865 ----
  /* /port compatibility functions */
  #include "port.h"
  
+ /*
+  * Define a cross-platform "always-inline" macro. This is a very sharp tool that
+  * should be used judiciously.
+  */
+ #ifdef __always_inline
+ #define pg_always_inline __always_inline
+ #elif defined(__force_inline)
+ #define pg_always_inline __force_inline
+ #else
+ #define pg_always_inline inline
+ #endif
+ 
  #endif   /* C_H */
diff --git a/src/include/utils/sortsupport.h b/src/include/utils/sortsupport.h
new file mode 100644
index ef8d853..37b3e80
*** a/src/include/utils/sortsupport.h
--- b/src/include/utils/sortsupport.h
*************** typedef struct SortSupportData
*** 94,103 ****
  	 * INT_MIN, as callers are allowed to negate the result before using it.
  	 */
  	int			(*comparator) (Datum x, Datum y, SortSupport ssup);
- 
- 	/*
- 	 * Additional sort-acceleration functions might be added here later.
- 	 */
  } SortSupportData;
  
  
--- 94,99 ----
diff --git a/src/include/utils/template_qsort_arg.h b/src/include/utils/template_qsort_arg.h
new file mode 100644
index ...9ede3f8
*** a/src/include/utils/template_qsort_arg.h
--- b/src/include/utils/template_qsort_arg.h
***************
*** 0 ****
--- 1,219 ----
+ /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  *	template_qsort_arg.h: "template" version of qsort_arg.c
+  *
+  *	This version of qsort_arg is exclusively used within tuplesort.c to	more
+  *	efficiently sort common types such as integers and floats. In providing this
+  *	version, we seek to take advantage of compile-time optimizations, in
+  *	particular, the inlining of comparators.
+  *
+  *	The TEMPLATE_QSORT_ARG() macro generates an inlining variant (for sorts with
+  *	a single sortKey) and non-inlining variant for sorts with multiple sortKeys.
+  *
+  *	We rely on various function declarations, and indeed partially duplicate
+  *	some code from tuplesort.c, so this file should be considered private to
+  *	that module, rather than a generic piece of infrastructure. However, it is
+  *	reasonable for clients to use this infrastructure to generate their own
+  *	sorting specializations outside of that translation unit.
+  *
+  *	CAUTION: if you change this file, see also qsort_arg.c as well as qsort.c.
+  *	qsort_arg.c should be considered authoritative.
+  *
+  *	Portions Copyright (c) 1996-2012, PostgreSQL Global Development Group
+  *	Portions Copyright (c) 1994, Regents of the University of California
+  *
+  *	src/include/utils/template_qsort_arg.h
+  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  */
+ #include "c.h"
+ 
+ #define swapcode(TYPE, parmi, parmj, n)		\
+ do {										\
+ 	size_t i = (n) / sizeof (TYPE);			\
+ 	TYPE *pi = (TYPE *)(void *)(parmi);		\
+ 	TYPE *pj = (TYPE *)(void *)(parmj);		\
+ 	do {									\
+ 		TYPE	t = *pi;					\
+ 		*pi++ = *pj;						\
+ 		*pj++ = t;							\
+ 		} while (--i > 0);					\
+ } while (0)
+ 
+ #define SWAPINIT(a, es) swaptype = ((char *)(a) - (char *)0) % sizeof(long) || \
+ 	(es) % sizeof(long) ? 2 : (es) == sizeof(long)? 0 : 1;
+ 
+ #define thistype_vecswap(a, b, n)	 if ((n) > 0) swapfunc((a), (b), (size_t)(n), swaptype)
+ 
+ #define thistype_swap(a, b)								\
+ 	if (swaptype == 0) {								\
+ 		long t = *(long *)(void *)(a);					\
+ 		*(long *)(void *)(a) = *(long *)(void *)(b);	\
+ 		*(long *)(void *)(b) = t;						\
+ 	} else												\
+ 		swapfunc(a, b, es, swaptype)
+ 
+ pg_always_inline static void
+ swapfunc(char *a, char *b, size_t n, int swaptype)
+ {
+ 	if (swaptype <= 1)
+ 		swapcode(long, a, b, n);
+ 	else
+ 		swapcode(char, a, b, n);
+ }
+ 
+ /*
+  * This macro manufactures a type-specific implementation of qsort_arg with
+  * the comparator, COMPAR, known at compile time. COMPAR is typically an
+  * inline function.
+  *
+  * COMPAR should take as its arguments two Datums, and return an int, in
+  * line with standard qsort convention.
+  *
+  * We have void* parameters for comparetup_inline just to shut up the compiler.
+  * They could be SortTuple pointers instead, but that would make it more
+  * difficult to keep template_qsort_arg.h consistent with tuplesort.c.
+  */
+ 
+ #define DO_TEMPLATE_QSORT_ARG(SPEC_VAR, ADD_CODE, OUT_COMPAR)			\
+ void SPEC_VAR##_qsort_arg(void *a, size_t n, size_t es, void *arg);		\
+ 																					\
+ /*																					\
+  * Note that this is heavily based on comparetup_inline; the two should be kept		\
+  * consistent.																		\
+  */																					\
+ pg_always_inline static int															\
+ SPEC_VAR##_comparetup_inline(const void *a, const void *b,							\
+ 		Tuplesortstate *state)														\
+ {																					\
+ 	const SortTuple* aT = a;														\
+ 	const SortTuple* bT = b;														\
+ 	int32		compare;															\
+ 	SortSupport	sortKey = state->sortKeys;											\
+ 																					\
+ 	/* Compare the leading sort key */												\
+ 	compare = ApplySortComparator(aT->datum1, aT->isnull1,							\
+ 								  bT->datum1, bT->isnull1,							\
+ 								  sortKey);											\
+ 	if (compare != 0)																\
+ 		return compare;																\
+ 	/* Additional code (varies according to number of sortKeys) */					\
+ 	ADD_CODE																		\
+ 	return 0;																		\
+ }																					\
+ 																					\
+ pg_always_inline static char *									\
+ SPEC_VAR##med3(char *a, char *b, char *c, void *arg)			\
+ {																\
+ 	return OUT_COMPAR(a, b, arg) < 0 ?							\
+ 		(OUT_COMPAR(b, c, arg) < 0 ?							\
+ 					b : (OUT_COMPAR(a, c, arg) < 0 ? c : a))	\
+ 		: (OUT_COMPAR(b, c, arg) > 0 ?							\
+ 					b : (OUT_COMPAR(a, c, arg) < 0 ? a : c));	\
+ }																\
+ 																\
+ void																		\
+ SPEC_VAR##_qsort_arg(void *a, size_t n, size_t es, void *arg)				\
+ {																			\
+ 	char	   *pa,															\
+ 			   *pb,															\
+ 			   *pc,															\
+ 			   *pd,															\
+ 			   *pl,															\
+ 			   *pm,															\
+ 			   *pn;															\
+ 	int			d,															\
+ 				r,															\
+ 				swaptype,													\
+ 				presorted;													\
+ 																			\
+ loop:SWAPINIT(a, es);														\
+ 	if (n < 7)																\
+ 	{																		\
+ 		for (pm = (char *) a + es; pm < (char *) a + n * es; pm += es)		\
+ 			for (pl = pm; pl > (char *) a &&								\
+ 					OUT_COMPAR(pl - es, pl, arg) > 0;						\
+ 				 pl -= es)													\
+ 				thistype_swap(pl, pl - es);									\
+ 		return;																\
+ 	}																		\
+ 	presorted = 1;															\
+ 	for (pm = (char *) a + es; pm < (char *) a + n * es; pm += es)			\
+ 	{																		\
+ 		if (OUT_COMPAR(pm - es, pm, arg) > 0)								\
+ 		{																	\
+ 			presorted = 0;													\
+ 			break;															\
+ 		}																	\
+ 	}																		\
+ 	if (presorted)															\
+ 		return;																\
+ 	pm = (char *) a + (n / 2) * es;											\
+ 	if (n > 7)																\
+ 	{																		\
+ 		pl = (char *) a;													\
+ 		pn = (char *) a + (n - 1) * es;										\
+ 		if (n > 40)															\
+ 		{																	\
+ 			d = (n / 8) * es;												\
+ 			pl = SPEC_VAR##med3(pl, pl + d, pl + 2 * d, arg);				\
+ 			pm = SPEC_VAR##med3(pm - d, pm, pm + d, arg);					\
+ 			pn = SPEC_VAR##med3(pn - 2 * d, pn - d, pn, arg);				\
+ 		}																	\
+ 		pm = SPEC_VAR##med3(pl, pm, pn, arg);								\
+ 	}																		\
+ 	thistype_swap(a, pm);													\
+ 	pa = pb = (char *) a + es;												\
+ 	pc = pd = (char *) a + (n - 1) * es;									\
+ 	for (;;)																\
+ 	{																		\
+ 		while (pb <= pc &&													\
+ 					(r = OUT_COMPAR(pb, a, arg)) <= 0)						\
+ 		{																	\
+ 			if (r == 0)														\
+ 			{																\
+ 				thistype_swap(pa, pb);										\
+ 				pa += es;													\
+ 			}																\
+ 			pb += es;														\
+ 		}																	\
+ 		while (pb <= pc &&													\
+ 				(r = OUT_COMPAR(pc, a, arg)) >= 0)							\
+ 		{																	\
+ 			if (r == 0)														\
+ 			{																\
+ 				thistype_swap(pc, pd);										\
+ 				pd -= es;													\
+ 			}																\
+ 			pc -= es;														\
+ 		}																	\
+ 		if (pb > pc)														\
+ 			break;															\
+ 		thistype_swap(pb, pc);												\
+ 		pb += es;															\
+ 		pc -= es;															\
+ 	}																		\
+ 	pn = (char *) a + n * es;												\
+ 	r = Min(pa - (char *) a, pb - pa);										\
+ 	thistype_vecswap(a, pb - r, r);											\
+ 	r = Min(pd - pc, pn - pd - es);											\
+ 	thistype_vecswap(pb, pn - r, r);										\
+ 	if ((r = pb - pa) > es)													\
+ 		SPEC_VAR##_qsort_arg(a, r / es, es, arg);							\
+ 	if ((r = pd - pc) > es)													\
+ 	{																		\
+ 		/* Iterate rather than recurse to save stack space */				\
+ 		a = pn - r;															\
+ 		n = r / es;															\
+ 		goto loop;															\
+ 	}																		\
+ }
+ 
+ /*
+  * Additional code, used depending on the specialization.
+  */
+ #define MULTI_ADDITIONAL_CODE												\
+ {																			\
+ 	Assert(state->nKeys > 1);												\
+ 	return state->comparetup(aT, bT, state);								\
+ }
+ 
+ #define ONE_ADDITIONAL_CODE Assert(state->nKeys == 1);
diff --git a/src/port/qsort.c b/src/port/qsort.c
new file mode 100644
index 8e2c6d9..d1981d6
*** a/src/port/qsort.c
--- b/src/port/qsort.c
***************
*** 7,13 ****
   *	  Remove ill-considered "swap_cnt" switch to insertion sort,
   *	  in favor of a simple check for presorted input.
   *
!  *	CAUTION: if you change this file, see also qsort_arg.c
   *
   *	src/port/qsort.c
   */
--- 7,14 ----
   *	  Remove ill-considered "swap_cnt" switch to insertion sort,
   *	  in favor of a simple check for presorted input.
   *
!  *	CAUTION: if you change this file, see also qsort_arg.c and
!  *	template_qsort_arg.h
   *
   *	src/port/qsort.c
   */
diff --git a/src/port/qsort_arg.c b/src/port/qsort_arg.c
new file mode 100644
index 28d1894..0ab6198
*** a/src/port/qsort_arg.c
--- b/src/port/qsort_arg.c
***************
*** 7,13 ****
   *	  Remove ill-considered "swap_cnt" switch to insertion sort,
   *	  in favor of a simple check for presorted input.
   *
!  *	CAUTION: if you change this file, see also qsort.c
   *
   *	src/port/qsort_arg.c
   */
--- 7,13 ----
   *	  Remove ill-considered "swap_cnt" switch to insertion sort,
   *	  in favor of a simple check for presorted input.
   *
!  *	CAUTION: if you change this file, see also qsort.c and template_qsort_arg.h
   *
   *	src/port/qsort_arg.c
   */