diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.rst b/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.rst
index 62f9d86c082c..f1e5dce86af7 100644
--- a/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.rst
+++ b/Documentation/kbuild/kbuild.rst
@@ -105,6 +105,15 @@ The output directory can also be specified using "O=...".
 
 Setting "O=..." takes precedence over KBUILD_OUTPUT.
 
+KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN
+-----------------
+Specify the extra build checks. The same value can be assigned by passing
+W=... from the command line.
+
+See `make help` for the list of the supported values.
+
+Setting "W=..." takes precedence over KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN.
+
 KBUILD_DEBARCH
 --------------
 For the deb-pkg target, allows overriding the normal heuristics deployed by
@@ -241,11 +250,6 @@ To get all available archs you can also specify all. E.g.::
 
     $ make ALLSOURCE_ARCHS=all tags
 
-KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS
-------------------------------
-If enabled over the make command line with "W=1", it turns on additional
-gcc -W... options for more extensive build-time checking.
-
 KBUILD_BUILD_TIMESTAMP
 ----------------------
 Setting this to a date string overrides the timestamp used in the
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 06e1e21c0f45..016d72eb3ddf 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1538,7 +1538,7 @@ help:
 	@echo  '  make C=1   [targets] Check re-compiled c source with $$CHECK (sparse by default)'
 	@echo  '  make C=2   [targets] Force check of all c source with $$CHECK'
 	@echo  '  make RECORDMCOUNT_WARN=1 [targets] Warn about ignored mcount sections'
-	@echo  '  make W=n   [targets] Enable extra gcc checks, n=1,2,3 where'
+	@echo  '  make W=n   [targets] Enable extra checks, n=1,2,3 where'
 	@echo  '		1: warnings which may be relevant and do not occur too often'
 	@echo  '		2: warnings which occur quite often but may still be relevant'
 	@echo  '		3: more obscure warnings, can most likely be ignored'
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.build b/scripts/Makefile.build
index 2a21ca86b720..f72aba64d611 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.build
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.build
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ else ifeq ($(KBUILD_CHECKSRC),2)
         cmd_force_checksrc = $(CHECK) $(CHECKFLAGS) $(c_flags) $<
 endif
 
-ifneq ($(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS),)
+ifneq ($(KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN),)
   cmd_checkdoc = $(srctree)/scripts/kernel-doc -none $<
 endif
 
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn b/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn
index d226c5fb13e2..53eb7e0c6a5a 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn
@@ -8,14 +8,19 @@
 
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-disable-warning, packed-not-aligned)
 
+# backward compatibility
+KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN ?= $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)
+
 ifeq ("$(origin W)", "command line")
-  export KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS := $(W)
+  KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN := $(W)
 endif
 
+export KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN
+
 #
 # W=1 - warnings which may be relevant and do not occur too often
 #
-ifneq ($(findstring 1, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+ifneq ($(findstring 1, $(KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN)),)
 
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wextra -Wunused -Wno-unused-parameter
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wmissing-declarations
@@ -48,7 +53,7 @@ endif
 #
 # W=2 - warnings which occur quite often but may still be relevant
 #
-ifneq ($(findstring 2, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+ifneq ($(findstring 2, $(KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN)),)
 
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wcast-align
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wdisabled-optimization
@@ -65,7 +70,7 @@ endif
 #
 # W=3 - more obscure warnings, can most likely be ignored
 #
-ifneq ($(findstring 3, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+ifneq ($(findstring 3, $(KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN)),)
 
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wbad-function-cast
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wcast-qual
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.lib b/scripts/Makefile.lib
index 7ab17712ab24..df83967268ba 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.lib
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.lib
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ quiet_cmd_gzip = GZIP    $@
 DTC ?= $(objtree)/scripts/dtc/dtc
 
 # Disable noisy checks by default
-ifeq ($(findstring 1,$(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+ifeq ($(findstring 1,$(KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN)),)
 DTC_FLAGS += -Wno-unit_address_vs_reg \
 	-Wno-unit_address_format \
 	-Wno-avoid_unnecessary_addr_size \
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ DTC_FLAGS += -Wno-unit_address_vs_reg \
 	-Wno-pci_device_reg
 endif
 
-ifneq ($(findstring 2,$(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+ifneq ($(findstring 2,$(KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN)),)
 DTC_FLAGS += -Wnode_name_chars_strict \
 	-Wproperty_name_chars_strict
 endif
diff --git a/scripts/genksyms/Makefile b/scripts/genksyms/Makefile
index baf44ed0a93a..78629f515e78 100644
--- a/scripts/genksyms/Makefile
+++ b/scripts/genksyms/Makefile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ genksyms-objs	:= genksyms.o parse.tab.o lex.lex.o
 #
 # Just in case, run "$(YACC) --version" without suppressing stderr
 # so that 'bison: not found' will be displayed if it is missing.
-ifeq ($(findstring 1,$(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+ifeq ($(findstring 1,$(KBUILD_EXTRA_WARN)),)
 
 quiet_cmd_bison_no_warn = $(quiet_cmd_bison)
       cmd_bison_no_warn = $(YACC) --version >/dev/null; \
