diff --git a/src/backend/utils/error/elog.c b/src/backend/utils/error/elog.c
index 1ba47c194b..42c5e052b6 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/error/elog.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/error/elog.c
@@ -219,6 +219,19 @@ err_gettext(const char *str)
 #endif
 }
 
+/*
+ * errstart_cold
+ *		A simple wrapper around errstart, but hinted to be "cold".  Supporting
+ *		compilers are more likely to move code for branches containing this
+ *		function into an area away from the calling function's code.  This can
+ *		result in more commonly executed code being more compact and fitting
+ *		on fewer cache lines.
+ */
+pg_attribute_cold bool
+errstart_cold(int elevel, const char *domain)
+{
+	return errstart(elevel, domain);
+}
 
 /*
  * errstart --- begin an error-reporting cycle
diff --git a/src/include/utils/elog.h b/src/include/utils/elog.h
index 1e09ee0541..270bfbcfe5 100644
--- a/src/include/utils/elog.h
+++ b/src/include/utils/elog.h
@@ -111,6 +111,15 @@
  * ereport_domain() directly, or preferably they can override the TEXTDOMAIN
  * macro.
  *
+ * When __builtin_constant_p is available and elevel >= ERROR we make a call
+ * to errstart_cold() instead of errstart().  This version of the function is
+ * marked with pg_attribute_cold which will coax supporting compilers into
+ * generating code which is more optimized towards non-ERROR cases.  Because
+ * we use __builtin_constant_p() in the condition, when elevel is not a
+ * compile-time constant, or if it is, but it's < ERROR, the compiler has no
+ * need to generate any code for this branch.  It can simply call errstart()
+ * unconditionally.
+ *
  * If elevel >= ERROR, the call will not return; we try to inform the compiler
  * of that via pg_unreachable().  However, no useful optimization effect is
  * obtained unless the compiler sees elevel as a compile-time constant, else
@@ -124,7 +133,9 @@
 #define ereport_domain(elevel, domain, ...)	\
 	do { \
 		pg_prevent_errno_in_scope(); \
-		if (errstart(elevel, domain)) \
+		if (__builtin_constant_p(elevel) && (elevel) >= ERROR ? \
+			errstart_cold(elevel, domain) : \
+			errstart(elevel, domain)) \
 			__VA_ARGS__, errfinish(__FILE__, __LINE__, PG_FUNCNAME_MACRO); \
 		if (__builtin_constant_p(elevel) && (elevel) >= ERROR) \
 			pg_unreachable(); \
@@ -146,6 +157,7 @@
 
 #define TEXTDOMAIN NULL
 
+extern bool pg_attribute_cold errstart_cold(int elevel, const char *domain);
 extern bool errstart(int elevel, const char *domain);
 extern void errfinish(const char *filename, int lineno, const char *funcname);