diff --git a/src/CHANGELOG b/src/CHANGELOG
index 933777408..d2904f037 100644
--- a/src/CHANGELOG
+++ b/src/CHANGELOG
@@ -146,6 +146,10 @@ ECL 0.9i
  - The slot GENERIC-FUNCTION of a method is initially set to NIL instead of
    left unbound.
 
+ - The old conservative garbage collector works again. It now supports 64-bit
+   architectures, though the memory is still limited to 32Mb of lisp data. In
+   any case, this collector is only intended for small setups and OpenBSD.
+
 * Documentation:
 
  - The HTML manuals now use CSS for a more appealing look.
diff --git a/src/Makefile.in b/src/Makefile.in
index 7aa5969cd..dfa4f8bc7 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.in
+++ b/src/Makefile.in
@@ -132,8 +132,10 @@ install-base:
 	$(mkinstalldirs) $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/gc/private
 	sed '/-CUT-/,$$d' ./ecl/config.h > ./ecl/config-install.h
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) ./ecl/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl
-	$(INSTALL_DATA) ./ecl/gc/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/gc
-	$(INSTALL_DATA) ./ecl/gc/private/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/gc/private
+	if (echo $(SUBDIRS) | grep gc); then \
+	  $(INSTALL_DATA) ./ecl/gc/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/gc; \
+	  $(INSTALL_DATA) ./ecl/gc/private/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/gc/private; \
+	fi
 	rm $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/config.h
 	mv $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/config-install.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/ecl/config.h
 	$(INSTALL_SCRIPT) bin/ecl-config $(DESTDIR)$(bindir)
diff --git a/src/c/alloc.d b/src/c/alloc.d
index beac20b0f..f5e23b735 100644
--- a/src/c/alloc.d
+++ b/src/c/alloc.d
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ cl_resize_hole(cl_index n)
 		holepage = 0;
 		e = sbrk(n * LISP_PAGESIZE + (data_end - e));
 	}
-	if ((int)e < 0)
+	if ((cl_fixnum)e < 0)
 		error("Can't allocate.  Good-bye!");
 	data_end = e;
 	holepage += n;
@@ -604,6 +604,11 @@ init_tm(cl_type t, const char *name, cl_index elsize, cl_index maxpage)
 	int i, j;
 	struct typemanager *tm = &tm_table[(int)t];
 
+	if (elsize < 2*sizeof(cl_index)) {
+		// A free list cell does not fit into this type
+		elsize = 2*sizeof(cl_index);
+	}
+
 	tm->tm_name = name;
 	for (i = (int)t_start, j = i-1;  i < (int)t_end;  i++)
 	  if (tm_table[i].tm_size >= elsize &&
diff --git a/src/c/gbc.d b/src/c/gbc.d
index 4a3258001..fd91e2667 100644
--- a/src/c/gbc.d
+++ b/src/c/gbc.d
@@ -375,6 +375,13 @@ BEGIN:
 		mark_object(x->cblock.name);
 		mark_object(x->cblock.next);
 		mark_object(x->cblock.links);
+		p = x->cblock.temp_data;
+		if (p) {
+			i = x->cblock.temp_data_size;
+			mark_contblock(p, i * sizeof(cl_object));
+			while (i-- > 0)
+				mark_object(p[i]);
+		}
 		i = x->cblock.data_size;
 		p = x->cblock.data;
 		goto MARK_DATA;
@@ -700,6 +707,8 @@ ecl_gc(cl_type t)
 	if (!GC_enabled())
 		return;
 
+	GC_disable();
+
 	CL_NEWENV_BEGIN {
 	if (SYM_VAL(@'si::*gc-verbose*') != Cnil) {
 		printf("\n[GC ..");
@@ -745,7 +754,7 @@ ecl_gc(cl_type t)
 		*/
 		int mark_table_size = maxpage * (LISP_PAGESIZE / 32);
 		extern void cl_resize_hole(cl_index);
-		
+
 		if (holepage < mark_table_size*sizeof(int)/LISP_PAGESIZE + 1)
 			new_holepage = mark_table_size*sizeof(int)/LISP_PAGESIZE + 1;
 		if (new_holepage < HOLEPAGE)
@@ -785,7 +794,7 @@ ecl_gc(cl_type t)
 		if (debug)
 			printf("contblock sweep ended (%d)\n", ecl_runtime() - tm);
 	}
-	
+
 	if (debug) {
 		for (i = 0, j = 0;  i < (int)t_end;  i++) {
 			if (tm_table[i].tm_type == (cl_type)i) {
@@ -814,6 +823,8 @@ ecl_gc(cl_type t)
 
 	} CL_NEWENV_END;
 
+	GC_enable();
+
 #ifdef THREADS
 #error "We need to activate all other threads again"
 #endif /* THREADS */
diff --git a/src/c/main.d b/src/c/main.d
index 876a6c1c9..a40ff9ff0 100644
--- a/src/c/main.d
+++ b/src/c/main.d
@@ -244,12 +244,6 @@ cl_boot(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	/* These must come _after_ the packages and NIL/T have been created */
 	init_all_symbols();
-	GC_enable();
-
-#if !defined(GBC_BOEHM)
-	/* We need this because a lot of stuff is to be created */
-	init_GC();
-#endif
 
 	/*
 	 * 2) Initialize constants (strings, numbers and time).
@@ -306,6 +300,12 @@ cl_boot(int argc, char **argv)
 	 *    frame stack immediately (for instance SI:PATHNAME-TRANSLATIONS).
 	 */
 	ecl_init_env(&cl_env);
+#if !defined(GBC_BOEHM)
+	/* We need this because a lot of stuff is to be created */
+	init_GC();
+#endif
+	GC_enable();
+
 #ifdef ECL_THREADS
 	cl_env.bindings_hash = cl__make_hash_table(@'eq', MAKE_FIXNUM(1024),
 						   make_shortfloat(1.5f),
diff --git a/src/c/read.d b/src/c/read.d
index 8010b4176..2467d81df 100644
--- a/src/c/read.d
+++ b/src/c/read.d
@@ -1984,9 +1984,12 @@ read_VV(cl_object block, void (*entry_point)(cl_object))
 #else
 		VV = block->cblock.data;
 #endif
+		memset(VV, 0, perm_len * sizeof(*VV));
+
 		if ((len == 0) || (block->cblock.data_text == 0)) goto NO_DATA_LABEL;
-		VVtemp = temp_len? (cl_object *)cl_alloc(temp_len * sizeof(cl_object)) : NULL;
-		block->cblock.temp_data = VVtemp;
+
+		VVtemp = block->cblock.temp_data = temp_len? (cl_object *)cl_alloc(temp_len * sizeof(cl_object)) : NULL;
+		memset(VVtemp, 0, temp_len * sizeof(*VVtemp));
 
 		/* Read all data for the library */
 		in=ecl_make_string_input_stream(make_constant_string(block->cblock.data_text),
diff --git a/src/h/config.h.in b/src/h/config.h.in
index 1f8b17b7d..21321d173 100644
--- a/src/h/config.h.in
+++ b/src/h/config.h.in
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ typedef unsigned @CL_FIXNUM_TYPE@ cl_hashkey;
  * Memory limits for the old garbage collector.
  */
 #define	LISP_PAGESIZE	2048	/* Page size in bytes			*/
-#define MAXPAGE	16384		/* Maximum Memory Size			*/
+#define MAXPAGE	65536		/* Maximum Memory Size			*/
 
 /*
  * The lisp environment has several stacks. These are their limits: