Index: include/llvm/CodeGen/TargetLowering.h
===================================================================
--- include/llvm/CodeGen/TargetLowering.h
+++ include/llvm/CodeGen/TargetLowering.h
@@ -1440,6 +1440,9 @@
   /// require a more complex expansion.
   unsigned getMinCmpXchgSizeInBits() const { return MinCmpXchgSizeInBits; }
 
+  /// Whether the target supports unaligned atomic operations.
+  bool supportsUnalignedAtomics() const { return SupportsUnalignedAtomics; }
+
   /// Whether AtomicExpandPass should automatically insert fences and reduce
   /// ordering for this atomic. This should be true for most architectures with
   /// weak memory ordering. Defaults to false.
@@ -1845,11 +1848,16 @@
     MaxAtomicSizeInBitsSupported = SizeInBits;
   }
 
-  // Sets the minimum cmpxchg or ll/sc size supported by the backend.
+  /// Sets the minimum cmpxchg or ll/sc size supported by the backend.
   void setMinCmpXchgSizeInBits(unsigned SizeInBits) {
     MinCmpXchgSizeInBits = SizeInBits;
   }
 
+  /// Sets whether unaligned atomic operations are supported.
+  void setSupportsUnalignedAtomics(bool UnalignedSupported) {
+    SupportsUnalignedAtomics = UnalignedSupported;
+  }
+
 public:
   //===--------------------------------------------------------------------===//
   // Addressing mode description hooks (used by LSR etc).
@@ -2331,6 +2339,9 @@
   /// backend supports.
   unsigned MinCmpXchgSizeInBits;
 
+  /// This indicates if the target supports unaligned atomic operations.
+  bool SupportsUnalignedAtomics;
+
   /// If set to a physical register, this specifies the register that
   /// llvm.savestack/llvm.restorestack should save and restore.
   unsigned StackPointerRegisterToSaveRestore;
Index: lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/SelectionDAGBuilder.cpp
===================================================================
--- lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/SelectionDAGBuilder.cpp
+++ lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/SelectionDAGBuilder.cpp
@@ -4138,7 +4138,8 @@
   const TargetLowering &TLI = DAG.getTargetLoweringInfo();
   EVT VT = TLI.getValueType(DAG.getDataLayout(), I.getType());
 
-  if (I.getAlignment() < VT.getStoreSize())
+  if (!TLI.supportsUnalignedAtomics() &&
+      I.getAlignment() < VT.getStoreSize())
     report_fatal_error("Cannot generate unaligned atomic load");
 
   MachineMemOperand *MMO =
Index: lib/CodeGen/TargetLoweringBase.cpp
===================================================================
--- lib/CodeGen/TargetLoweringBase.cpp
+++ lib/CodeGen/TargetLoweringBase.cpp
@@ -520,6 +520,7 @@
   MaxAtomicSizeInBitsSupported = 1024;
 
   MinCmpXchgSizeInBits = 0;
+  SupportsUnalignedAtomics = false;
 
   std::fill(std::begin(LibcallRoutineNames), std::end(LibcallRoutineNames), nullptr);
 
Index: lib/Target/AVR/AVRISelLowering.cpp
===================================================================
--- lib/Target/AVR/AVRISelLowering.cpp
+++ lib/Target/AVR/AVRISelLowering.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
   setBooleanVectorContents(ZeroOrOneBooleanContent);
   setSchedulingPreference(Sched::RegPressure);
   setStackPointerRegisterToSaveRestore(AVR::SP);
+  setSupportsUnalignedAtomics(true);
 
   setOperationAction(ISD::GlobalAddress, MVT::i16, Custom);
   setOperationAction(ISD::BlockAddress, MVT::i16, Custom);
Index: test/CodeGen/AVR/unaligned-atomic-loads.ll
===================================================================
--- /dev/null
+++ test/CodeGen/AVR/unaligned-atomic-loads.ll
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+; RUN: llc -mattr=addsubiw < %s -march=avr | FileCheck %s
+
+; This verifies that the middle end can handle an unaligned atomic load.
+;
+; In the past, an assertion inside the SelectionDAGBuilder would always
+; hit an assertion for unaligned loads and stores.
+
+%AtomicI16 = type { %CellI16, [0 x i8] }
+%CellI16 = type { i16, [0 x i8] }
+
+; CHECK-LABEL: foo
+; CHECK: ret
+define void @foo(%AtomicI16* %self) {
+start:
+  %a = getelementptr inbounds %AtomicI16, %AtomicI16* %self, i16 0, i32 0, i32 0
+  load atomic i16, i16* %a seq_cst, align 1
+  ret void
+}
+