diff --git a/llvm/include/llvm/Bitcode/BitcodeWriter.h b/llvm/include/llvm/Bitcode/BitcodeWriter.h
--- a/llvm/include/llvm/Bitcode/BitcodeWriter.h
+++ b/llvm/include/llvm/Bitcode/BitcodeWriter.h
@@ -153,6 +153,10 @@
                             *ModuleToSummariesForIndex = nullptr);
 
   /// Save a copy of the llvm IR as data in the __LLVM,__bitcode section.
+  /// If available, pass the serialized module via the Buf parameter. If not,
+  /// pass an empty (default-initialized) MemoryBufferRef, and the serialization
+  /// will be handled by this API. The same behavior happens if the provided Buf
+  /// is not valid bitcode.
   void EmbedBitcodeInModule(Module &M, MemoryBufferRef Buf, bool EmbedBitcode,
                             bool EmbedMarker,
                             const std::vector<uint8_t> *CmdArgs);
diff --git a/llvm/lib/LTO/LTOBackend.cpp b/llvm/lib/LTO/LTOBackend.cpp
--- a/llvm/lib/LTO/LTOBackend.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/LTO/LTOBackend.cpp
@@ -353,13 +353,7 @@
 static void EmitBitcodeSection(Module &M) {
   if (!EmbedBitcode)
     return;
-  SmallVector<char, 0> Buffer;
-  raw_svector_ostream OS(Buffer);
-  WriteBitcodeToFile(M, OS);
-
-  std::unique_ptr<MemoryBuffer> Buf(
-      new SmallVectorMemoryBuffer(std::move(Buffer)));
-  llvm::EmbedBitcodeInModule(M, Buf->getMemBufferRef(), /*EmbedBitcode*/ true,
+  llvm::EmbedBitcodeInModule(M, llvm::MemoryBufferRef(), /*EmbedBitcode*/ true,
                              /*EmbedMarker*/ false, /*CmdArgs*/ nullptr);
 }