diff --git a/llvm/lib/Transforms/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer.cpp b/llvm/lib/Transforms/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer.cpp
--- a/llvm/lib/Transforms/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/Transforms/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer.cpp
@@ -2072,10 +2072,23 @@
     SetComdatForGlobalMetadata(G, Metadata, UniqueModuleId);
   }
 
+  // This should never be called when there are no globals, by the logic that
+  // computes the UniqueModuleId string, which is "" when there are no globals.
+  // It's important that this path is only used when there are actually some
+  // globals, because that means that there will certainly be a live
+  // `asan_globals` input section at link time and thus `__start_asan_globals`
+  // and `__stop_asan_globals` symbols will definitely be defined at link time.
+  // This means there's no need for the references to them to be weak, which
+  // enables better code generation because ExternalWeakLinkage implies
+  // isInterposable() and thus requires GOT indirection for PIC.  Since these
+  // are known-defined hidden/dso_local symbols, direct PIC accesses without
+  // dynamic relocation are always sufficient.
+  assert(!MetadataGlobals.empty());
+  assert(!UniqueModuleId.empty());
+
   // Update llvm.compiler.used, adding the new metadata globals. This is
   // needed so that during LTO these variables stay alive.
-  if (!MetadataGlobals.empty())
-    appendToCompilerUsed(M, MetadataGlobals);
+  appendToCompilerUsed(M, MetadataGlobals);
 
   // RegisteredFlag serves two purposes. First, we can pass it to dladdr()
   // to look up the loaded image that contains it. Second, we can store in it
@@ -2088,15 +2101,18 @@
       ConstantInt::get(IntptrTy, 0), kAsanGlobalsRegisteredFlagName);
   RegisteredFlag->setVisibility(GlobalVariable::HiddenVisibility);
 
-  // Create start and stop symbols.
-  GlobalVariable *StartELFMetadata = new GlobalVariable(
-      M, IntptrTy, false, GlobalVariable::ExternalWeakLinkage, nullptr,
-      "__start_" + getGlobalMetadataSection());
-  StartELFMetadata->setVisibility(GlobalVariable::HiddenVisibility);
-  GlobalVariable *StopELFMetadata = new GlobalVariable(
-      M, IntptrTy, false, GlobalVariable::ExternalWeakLinkage, nullptr,
-      "__stop_" + getGlobalMetadataSection());
-  StopELFMetadata->setVisibility(GlobalVariable::HiddenVisibility);
+  // Create start and stop symbols.  These are known to be defined by
+  // the linker, see comment above.
+  auto MakeStartStopGV = [&](const char *Prefix) {
+    GlobalVariable *StartStop =
+        new GlobalVariable(M, IntptrTy, false, GlobalVariable::ExternalLinkage,
+                           nullptr, Prefix + getGlobalMetadataSection());
+    StartStop->setVisibility(GlobalVariable::HiddenVisibility);
+    assert(StartStop->isImplicitDSOLocal());
+    return StartStop;
+  };
+  GlobalVariable *StartELFMetadata = MakeStartStopGV("__start_");
+  GlobalVariable *StopELFMetadata = MakeStartStopGV("__stop_");
 
   // Create a call to register the globals with the runtime.
   IRB.CreateCall(AsanRegisterElfGlobals,
diff --git a/llvm/test/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer/global_metadata.ll b/llvm/test/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer/global_metadata.ll
--- a/llvm/test/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer/global_metadata.ll
+++ b/llvm/test/Instrumentation/AddressSanitizer/global_metadata.ll
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@
 ; during LTO.
 ; CHECK: @llvm.compiler.used {{.*}} @__asan_global_global {{.*}} section "llvm.metadata"
 
+; Check that start and stop symbols will be accessed as dso_local.
+; CHECK: @__start_asan_globals = external hidden global i64
+; CHECK: @__stop_asan_globals = external hidden global i64
+
 ; Check that location descriptors and global names were passed into __asan_register_globals:
 ; CHECK: call void @__asan_register_elf_globals(i64 ptrtoint (i64* @___asan_globals_registered to i64), i64 ptrtoint (i64* @__start_asan_globals to i64), i64 ptrtoint (i64* @__stop_asan_globals to i64))