diff --git a/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPU.h b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPU.h
--- a/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPU.h
+++ b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPU.h
@@ -243,6 +243,9 @@
 void initializeGCNNSAReassignPass(PassRegistry &);
 extern char &GCNNSAReassignID;
 
+FunctionPass *createAMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobalPass();
+void initializeAMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobalPass(PassRegistry &);
+
 namespace AMDGPU {
 enum TargetIndex {
   TI_CONSTDATA_START,
diff --git a/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal.cpp b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+//===-- AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal.cpp - Promote pointer args ---===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+//
+/// \file
+/// Generic pointer kernel arguments need promoting to global ones.
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include "AMDGPU.h"
+#include "llvm/IR/Function.h"
+#include "llvm/IR/IRBuilder.h"
+#include "llvm/Pass.h"
+
+using namespace llvm;
+
+#define DEBUG_TYPE "amdgpu-promote-pointer-kernargs"
+
+namespace {
+
+class AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal : public FunctionPass {
+public:
+  static char ID;
+
+  AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal() : FunctionPass(ID) {}
+
+  bool runOnFunction(Function &F) override;
+};
+
+} // End anonymous namespace
+
+char AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal::ID = 0;
+
+INITIALIZE_PASS(AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal, DEBUG_TYPE,
+                "Lower intrinsics", false, false)
+
+bool AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal::runOnFunction(Function &F) {
+  // Skip non-entry function.
+  if (F.getCallingConv() != CallingConv::AMDGPU_KERNEL)
+    return false;
+
+  auto &Entry = F.getEntryBlock();
+  IRBuilder<> IRB(&Entry, Entry.begin());
+
+  bool Changed = false;
+  for (auto &Arg : F.args()) {
+    auto PtrTy = dyn_cast<PointerType>(Arg.getType());
+    if (!PtrTy || PtrTy->getPointerAddressSpace() != AMDGPUAS::FLAT_ADDRESS)
+      continue;
+
+    auto GlobalPtr =
+        IRB.CreateAddrSpaceCast(&Arg,
+                                PointerType::get(PtrTy->getPointerElementType(),
+                                                 AMDGPUAS::GLOBAL_ADDRESS),
+                                Arg.getName());
+    auto NewFlatPtr = IRB.CreateAddrSpaceCast(GlobalPtr, PtrTy, Arg.getName());
+    Arg.replaceAllUsesWith(NewFlatPtr);
+    // Fix the global pointer itself.
+    cast<Instruction>(GlobalPtr)->setOperand(0, &Arg);
+    Changed = true;
+  }
+
+  return Changed;
+}
+
+FunctionPass *llvm::createAMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobalPass() {
+  return new AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal();
+}
diff --git a/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPUTargetMachine.cpp b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPUTargetMachine.cpp
--- a/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPUTargetMachine.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/AMDGPUTargetMachine.cpp
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@
   initializeAMDGPULowerIntrinsicsPass(*PR);
   initializeAMDGPUOpenCLEnqueuedBlockLoweringPass(*PR);
   initializeAMDGPUPromoteAllocaPass(*PR);
+  initializeAMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobalPass(*PR);
   initializeAMDGPUCodeGenPreparePass(*PR);
   initializeAMDGPUPropagateAttributesEarlyPass(*PR);
   initializeAMDGPUPropagateAttributesLatePass(*PR);
@@ -441,6 +442,9 @@
   Builder.addExtension(
     PassManagerBuilder::EP_CGSCCOptimizerLate,
     [](const PassManagerBuilder &, legacy::PassManagerBase &PM) {
+      // Premote generic pointer kernel arguments to global ones.
+      PM.add(llvm::createAMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobalPass());
+
       // Add infer address spaces pass to the opt pipeline after inlining
       // but before SROA to increase SROA opportunities.
       PM.add(createInferAddressSpacesPass());
diff --git a/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/CMakeLists.txt b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/llvm/lib/Target/AMDGPU/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
   AMDGPUMCInstLower.cpp
   AMDGPUOpenCLEnqueuedBlockLowering.cpp
   AMDGPUPromoteAlloca.cpp
+  AMDGPUPromotePointerKernArgsToGlobal.cpp
   AMDGPUPropagateAttributes.cpp
   AMDGPURegisterBankInfo.cpp
   AMDGPURegisterInfo.cpp
diff --git a/llvm/test/CodeGen/AMDGPU/promote-pointer-kernargs.ll b/llvm/test/CodeGen/AMDGPU/promote-pointer-kernargs.ll
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/test/CodeGen/AMDGPU/promote-pointer-kernargs.ll
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+; RUN: opt -O1 -S -o - -mtriple=amdgcn %s | FileCheck %s
+
+; CHECK-LABEL: promote_pointer_kernargs
+; CHECK-NEXT: addrspacecast i32* %{{.*}} to i32 addrspace(1)*
+; CHECK-NEXT: addrspacecast i32* %{{.*}} to i32 addrspace(1)*
+; CHECK-NEXT: load i32, i32 addrspace(1)*
+; CHECK-NEXT: store i32 %{{.*}}, i32 addrspace(1)*
+; CHECK-NEXT: ret void
+define amdgpu_kernel void @promote_pointer_kernargs(i32* %out, i32* %in) {
+  %v = load i32, i32* %in
+  store i32 %v, i32* %out
+  ret void
+}