diff --git a/doc/manuals/Makefile.am b/doc/manuals/Makefile.am
index 894b38f1..e2813785 100644
--- a/doc/manuals/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/manuals/Makefile.am
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ libabigail-concepts.rst \
 libabigail-overview.rst \
 libabigail-tools.rst \
 fedabipkgdiff.rst \
-kmidiff.rst
+kmidiff.rst \
+tools-use-libabigail.txt
 
 # You can set these variables from the command line.
 SPHINXOPTS    =
diff --git a/doc/manuals/abidiff.rst b/doc/manuals/abidiff.rst
index a15515be..0c711d9e 100644
--- a/doc/manuals/abidiff.rst
+++ b/doc/manuals/abidiff.rst
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ be accompanied with their debug information in `DWARF`_ format.
 Otherwise, only `ELF`_ symbols that were added or removed are
 reported.
 
+.. include:: tools-use-libabigail.txt
+
 .. _abidiff_invocation_label:
 
 Invocation
@@ -197,6 +199,56 @@ Options
     consumption of the tool on binaries with a lot of publicly defined
     and exported types.
 
+  * ``--exported-interfaces-only``
+
+    By default, when looking at the debug information accompanying a
+    binary, this tool analyzes the descriptions of the types reachable
+    by the interfaces (functions and variables) that are visible
+    outside of their translation unit.  Once that analysis is done, an
+    ABI corpus is constructed by only considering the subset of types
+    reachable from interfaces associated to `ELF`_ symbols that are
+    defined and exported by the binary.  It's those final ABI Corpora
+    that are compared by this tool.
+
+    The problem with that approach however is that analyzing all the
+    interfaces that are visible from outside their translation unit
+    can amount to a lot of data, especially when those binaries are
+    applications, as opposed to shared libraries.  One example of such
+    applications is the `Linux Kernel`_.  Analyzing massive ABI
+    corpora like these can be extremely slow.
+
+    To mitigate that performance issue, this option allows libabigail
+    to only analyze types that are reachable from interfaces
+    associated with defined and exported `ELF`_ symbols.
+
+    Note that this option is turned on by default when analyzing the
+    `Linux Kernel`_.  Otherwise, it's turned off by default.
+
+  * ``--allow-non-exported-interfaces``
+
+    When looking at the debug information accompanying a binary, this
+    tool analyzes the descriptions of the types reachable by the
+    interfaces (functions and variables) that are visible outside of
+    their translation unit.  Once that analysis is done, an ABI corpus
+    is constructed by only considering the subset of types reachable
+    from interfaces associated to `ELF`_ symbols that are defined and
+    exported by the binary.  It's those final ABI Corpora that are
+    compared by this tool.
+
+    The problem with that approach however is that analyzing all the
+    interfaces that are visible from outside their translation unit
+    can amount to a lot of data, especially when those binaries are
+    applications, as opposed to shared libraries.  One example of such
+    applications is the `Linux Kernel`_.  Analyzing massive ABI
+    Corpora like these can be extremely slow.
+
+    In the presence of an "average sized" binary however one can
+    afford having libabigail analyze all interfaces that are visible
+    outside of their translation unit, using this option.
+
+    Note that this option is turned on by default, unless we are in
+    the presence of the `Linux Kernel`_.
+
   * ``--stat``
 
     Rather than displaying the detailed ABI differences between
diff --git a/doc/manuals/abidw.rst b/doc/manuals/abidw.rst
index bdd6204d..a3055c7e 100644
--- a/doc/manuals/abidw.rst
+++ b/doc/manuals/abidw.rst
@@ -12,14 +12,19 @@ defined ELF symbols of the file.  The input shared library must
 contain associated debug information in `DWARF`_ format.
 
 When given the ``--linux-tree`` option, this program can also handle a
-Linux kernel tree.  That is, a directory tree that contains both the
-vmlinux binary and Linux kernel modules.  It analyses those Linux
-kernel binaries and emits an XML representation of the interface
-between the kernel and its module, to standard output.  In this case,
-we don't call it an ABI, but a KMI (Kernel Module Interface).  The
-emitted KMI includes all the globally defined functions and variables,
-along with a complete representation of their types.  The input
-binaries must contain associated debug information in `DWARF`_ format.
+`Linux kernel`_ tree.  That is, a directory tree that contains both
+the vmlinux binary and `Linux Kernel`_ modules.  It analyses those
+`Linux Kernel`_ binaries and emits an XML representation of the
+interface between the kernel and its module, to standard output.  In
+this case, we don't call it an ABI, but a KMI (Kernel Module
+Interface).  The emitted KMI includes all the globally defined
+functions and variables, along with a complete representation of their
+types.  The input binaries must contain associated debug information
+in `DWARF`_ format.
+
+.. include:: tools-use-libabigail.txt
+
+.. _abidiff_invocation_label:
 
 Invocation
 ==========
@@ -92,7 +97,7 @@ Options
 
   * ``--kmi-whitelist | -kaw`` <*path-to-whitelist*>
 
-    When analyzing a Linux kernel binary, this option points to the
+    When analyzing a `Linux Kernel`_ binary, this option points to the
     white list of names of ELF symbols of functions and variables
     which ABI must be written out.  That white list is called a "
     Kernel Module Interface white list".  This is because for the
@@ -105,7 +110,7 @@ Options
 
     If this option is not provided -- thus if no white list is
     provided -- then the entire KMI, that is, all publicly defined and
-    exported functions and global variables by the Linux Kernel
+    exported functions and global variables by the `Linux Kernel`_
     binaries is emitted.
     
   * ``--linux-tree | --lt``
@@ -115,9 +120,10 @@ Options
     In that case, this program emits the representation of the Kernel
     Module Interface (KMI) on the standard output.
 
-    Below is an example of usage of ``abidw`` on a Linux Kernel tree.
+    Below is an example of usage of ``abidw`` on a `Linux Kernel`_
+    tree.
 
-    First, checkout a Linux kernel source tree and build it.  Then
+    First, checkout a `Linux Kernel`_ source tree and build it.  Then
     install the kernel modules in a directory somewhere.  Copy the
     vmlinux binary into that directory too.  And then serialize the
     KMI of that kernel to disk, using ``abidw``: ::
@@ -171,6 +177,56 @@ Options
     representation build by Libabigail to represent the ABI and will
     not end up in the abi XML file.
 
+  * ``--exported-interfaces-only``
+
+    By default, when looking at the debug information accompanying a
+    binary, this tool analyzes the descriptions of the types reachable
+    by the interfaces (functions and variables) that are visible
+    outside of their translation unit.  Once that analysis is done, an
+    ABI corpus is constructed by only considering the subset of types
+    reachable from interfaces associated to `ELF`_ symbols that are
+    defined and exported by the binary.  It's that final ABI corpus
+    which textual representation is saved as ``ABIXML``.
+
+    The problem with that approach however is that analyzing all the
+    interfaces that are visible from outside their translation unit
+    can amount to a lot of data, especially when those binaries are
+    applications, as opposed to shared libraries.  One example of such
+    applications is the `Linux Kernel`_.  Analyzing massive ABI
+    corpora like these can be extremely slow.
+
+    To mitigate that performance issue, this option allows libabigail
+    to only analyze types that are reachable from interfaces
+    associated with defined and exported `ELF`_ symbols.
+
+    Note that this option is turned on by default when analyzing the
+    `Linux Kernel`_.  Otherwise, it's turned off by default.
+
+  * ``--allow-non-exported-interfaces``
+
+    When looking at the debug information accompanying a binary, this
+    tool analyzes the descriptions of the types reachable by the
+    interfaces (functions and variables) that are visible outside of
+    their translation unit.  Once that analysis is done, an ABI corpus
+    is constructed by only considering the subset of types reachable
+    from interfaces associated to `ELF`_ symbols that are defined and
+    exported by the binary.  It's that final ABI corpus which textual
+    representation is saved as ``ABIXML``.
+
+    The problem with that approach however is that analyzing all the
+    interfaces that are visible from outside their translation unit
+    can amount to a lot of data, especially when those binaries are
+    applications, as opposed to shared libraries.  One example of such
+    applications is the `Linux Kernel`_.  Analyzing massive ABI
+    corpora like these can be extremely slow.
+
+    In the presence of an "average sized" binary however one can
+    afford having libabigail analyze all interfaces that are visible
+    outside of their translation unit, using this option.
+
+    Note that this option is turned on by default, unless we are in
+    the presence of the `Linux Kernel`_.
+
   * ``--no-linux-kernel-mode``
 
     Without this option, if abipkgiff detects that the binaries it is
@@ -308,4 +364,4 @@ standard `here
 .. _ELF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format
 .. _DWARF: http://www.dwarfstd.org
 .. _GNU: http://www.gnu.org
-
+.. _Linux Kernel: https://kernel.org/
diff --git a/doc/manuals/abipkgdiff.rst b/doc/manuals/abipkgdiff.rst
index 15ea9072..9114775a 100644
--- a/doc/manuals/abipkgdiff.rst
+++ b/doc/manuals/abipkgdiff.rst
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ information directly in a section of said binaries.  In those cases,
 obviously, no separate debug information package is needed as the tool
 will find the debug information inside the binaries.
 
+.. include:: tools-use-libabigail.txt
 
 .. _abipkgdiff_invocation_label:
 
@@ -277,6 +278,56 @@ Options
     global functions and variables are analyzed, so the tool detects
     and reports changes on these reachable types only.
 
+  * ``--exported-interfaces-only``
+
+    By default, when looking at the debug information accompanying a
+    binary, this tool analyzes the descriptions of the types reachable
+    by the interfaces (functions and variables) that are visible
+    outside of their translation unit.  Once that analysis is done, an
+    ABI corpus is constructed by only considering the subset of types
+    reachable from interfaces associated to `ELF`_ symbols that are
+    defined and exported by the binary.  It's those final ABI Corpora
+    that are compared by this tool.
+
+    The problem with that approach however is that analyzing all the
+    interfaces that are visible from outside their translation unit
+    can amount to a lot of data, especially when those binaries are
+    applications, as opposed to shared libraries.  One example of such
+    applications is the `Linux Kernel`_.  Analyzing massive ABI
+    corpora like these can be extremely slow.
+
+    To mitigate that performance issue, this option allows libabigail
+    to only analyze types that are reachable from interfaces
+    associated with defined and exported `ELF`_ symbols.
+
+    Note that this option is turned on by default when analyzing the
+    `Linux Kernel`_.  Otherwise, it's turned off by default.
+
+  * ``--allow-non-exported-interfaces``
+
+    When looking at the debug information accompanying a binary, this
+    tool analyzes the descriptions of the types reachable by the
+    interfaces (functions and variables) that are visible outside of
+    their translation unit.  Once that analysis is done, an ABI corpus
+    is constructed by only considering the subset of types reachable
+    from interfaces associated to `ELF`_ symbols that are defined and
+    exported by the binary.  It's those final ABI Corpora that are
+    compared by this tool.
+
+    The problem with that approach however is that analyzing all the
+    interfaces that are visible from outside their translation unit
+    can amount to a lot of data, especially when those binaries are
+    applications, as opposed to shared libraries.  One example of such
+    applications is the `Linux Kernel`_.  Analyzing massive ABI
+    Corpora like these can be extremely slow.
+
+    In the presence of an "average sized" binary however one can
+    afford having libabigail analyze all interfaces that are visible
+    outside of their translation unit, using this option.
+
+    Note that this option is turned on by default, unless we are in
+    the presence of the `Linux Kernel`_.
+
   *  ``--redundant``
 
     In the diff reports, do display redundant changes.  A redundant
diff --git a/doc/manuals/kmidiff.rst b/doc/manuals/kmidiff.rst
index ce8168ae..53010189 100644
--- a/doc/manuals/kmidiff.rst
+++ b/doc/manuals/kmidiff.rst
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ command line looks like: ::
 		       linux/v4.5/build/modules \
 		       linux/v4.6/build/modules
 
+
+.. include:: tools-use-libabigail.txt
+
+
 Invocation
 ==========
 
@@ -67,8 +71,8 @@ Environment
 
 By default, ``kmidiff`` compares all the interfaces (exported
 functions and variables) between the Kernel and its modules.  In
-practice, though, users want to compare a subset of the those
-interfaces.
+practice, though, some users might want to compare a subset of the
+those interfaces.
 
 Users can then define a "white list" of the interfaces to compare.
 Such a white list is a just a file in the "INI" format that looks
@@ -91,8 +95,11 @@ function or variable.  Only those interfaces along with the types
 reachable from their signatures are going to be compared by
 ``kmidiff`` recursively.
 
-Note that kmidiff compares the interfaces exported by the ``vmlinux``
-binary and by the all of the compiled modules.
+Note that by default kmidiff analyzes the types reachable from the
+interfaces associated with `ELF`_ symbols that are defined and
+exported by the `Linux Kernel`_ as being the union of the ``vmlinux``
+binary and all its compiled modules.  It then compares those
+interfaces (along with their types).
 
 Options
 =======
@@ -180,6 +187,38 @@ Options
     exported interfaces.  This is the default kind of report emitted
     by tools like ``abidiff`` or ``abipkgdiff``.
 
+  * ``--exported-interfaces-only``
+
+    When using this option, this tool analyzes the descriptions of the
+    types reachable by the interfaces (functions and variables)
+    associated with `ELF`_ symbols that are defined and exported by
+    the `Linux Kernel`_.
+
+    Otherwise, the tool also has the ability to analyze the
+    descriptions of the types reachable by the interfaces associated
+    with `ELF`_ symbols that are visible outside their translation
+    unit.  This later possibility is however much more resource
+    intensive and results in much slower operations.
+
+    That is why this option is enabled by default.
+
+
+  * ``--allow-non-exported-interfaces``
+
+    When using this option, this tool analyzes the descriptions of the
+    types reachable by the interfaces (functions and variables) that
+    are visible outside of their translation unit.  Once that analysis
+    is done, an ABI Corpus is constructed by only considering the
+    subset of types reachable from interfaces associated to `ELF`_
+    symbols that are defined and exported by the binary.  It's that
+    final ABI corpus which is compared against another one.
+
+    The problem with that approach however is that analyzing all the
+    interfaces that are visible from outside their translation unit
+    can amount to a lot of data, leading to very slow operations.
+
+    Note that this option is turned off by default.
+
   * ``--show-bytes``
 
     Show sizes and offsets in bytes, not bits.  This option is
@@ -198,3 +237,8 @@ Options
   * ``--show-dec``
 
     Show sizes and offsets in decimal base.
+
+
+.. _ELF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format
+.. _ksymtab: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format
+.. _Linux Kernel: https://kernel.org
diff --git a/doc/manuals/tools-use-libabigail.txt b/doc/manuals/tools-use-libabigail.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..43edf296
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manuals/tools-use-libabigail.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+This tool uses the libabigail library to analyze the binary as well as its
+associated debug information.  Here is its general mode of operation.
+
+When instructed to do so, a binary and its associated debug
+information is read and analyzed.  To that effect, libabigail analyzes
+by default the descriptions of the types reachable by the interfaces
+(functions and variables) that are visible outside of their
+translation unit.  Once that analysis is done, an Application Binary
+Interface Corpus is constructed by only considering the subset of
+types reachable from interfaces associated to `ELF`_ symbols that are
+defined and exported by the binary.  It's that final ABI corpus which
+libabigail considers as representing the ABI of the analyzed binary.
+
+Libabigail then has capabilities to generate textual representations
+of ABI Corpora, compare them, analyze their changes and report about
+them.
diff --git a/include/abg-ir.h b/include/abg-ir.h
index a857d041..61338edb 100644
--- a/include/abg-ir.h
+++ b/include/abg-ir.h
@@ -197,6 +197,15 @@ public:
   const config&
   get_config() const;
 
+  bool
+  user_set_analyze_exported_interfaces_only() const;
+
+  void
+  analyze_exported_interfaces_only(bool f);
+
+  bool
+  analyze_exported_interfaces_only() const;
+
 #ifdef WITH_DEBUG_SELF_COMPARISON
   void
   set_self_comparison_debug_input(const corpus_sptr& corpus);
diff --git a/src/abg-dwarf-reader.cc b/src/abg-dwarf-reader.cc
index e41172c1..cba89664 100644
--- a/src/abg-dwarf-reader.cc
+++ b/src/abg-dwarf-reader.cc
@@ -402,6 +402,12 @@ die_is_decl(const Dwarf_Die* die);
 static bool
 die_is_declaration_only(Dwarf_Die* die);
 
+static bool
+die_is_variable_decl(const Dwarf_Die *die);
+
+static bool
+die_is_function_decl(const Dwarf_Die *die);
+
 static bool
 die_has_size_attribute(const Dwarf_Die *die);
 
@@ -5303,6 +5309,44 @@ public:
     return symbol;
   }
 
+  /// Test if a DIE represents a decl (function or variable) that has
+  /// a symbol that is exported, whatever that means.  This is
+  /// supposed to work for Linux Kernel binaries as well.
+  ///
+  /// This is useful to limit the amount of DIEs taken into account to
+  /// the strict limit of what an ABI actually means.  Limiting the
+  /// volume of DIEs analyzed this way is an important optimization to
+  /// keep big binaries "manageable" by libabigail.
+  ///
+  /// @param DIE the die to consider.
+  bool
+  is_decl_die_with_exported_symbol(const Dwarf_Die *die)
+  {
+    if (!die || !die_is_decl(die))
+      return false;
+
+    bool result = false, address_found = false, symbol_is_exported = false;;
+    Dwarf_Addr decl_symbol_address = 0;
+
+    if (die_is_variable_decl(die))
+      {
+	if ((address_found = get_variable_address(die, decl_symbol_address)))
+	  symbol_is_exported =
+	    !!variable_symbol_is_exported(decl_symbol_address);
+      }
+    else if (die_is_function_decl(die))
+      {
+	if ((address_found = get_function_address(die, decl_symbol_address)))
+	  symbol_is_exported =
+	    !!function_symbol_is_exported(decl_symbol_address);
+      }
+
+    if (address_found)
+      result = symbol_is_exported;
+
+    return result;
+  }
+
   /// Getter for the symtab reader. Will load the symtab from the elf handle if
   /// not yet set.
   ///
@@ -5580,16 +5624,18 @@ public:
   ///
   /// @return true if the function address was found.
   bool
-  get_function_address(Dwarf_Die* function_die, Dwarf_Addr& address) const
+  get_function_address(const Dwarf_Die* function_die, Dwarf_Addr& address) const
   {
-    if (!die_address_attribute(function_die, DW_AT_low_pc, address))
+    if (!die_address_attribute(const_cast<Dwarf_Die*>(function_die),
+			       DW_AT_low_pc, address))
       // So no DW_AT_low_pc was found.  Let's see if the function DIE
       // has got a DW_AT_ranges attribute instead.  If it does, the
       // first address of the set of addresses represented by the
       // value of that DW_AT_ranges represents the function (symbol)
       // address we are looking for.
-      if (!get_first_exported_fn_address_from_DW_AT_ranges(function_die,
-							   address))
+      if (!get_first_exported_fn_address_from_DW_AT_ranges
+	  (const_cast<Dwarf_Die*>(function_die),
+	   address))
 	return false;
 
     address = maybe_adjust_fn_sym_address(address);
@@ -5611,11 +5657,12 @@ public:
   ///
   /// @return true if the variable address was found.
   bool
-  get_variable_address(Dwarf_Die*	variable_die,
+  get_variable_address(const Dwarf_Die* variable_die,
 		       Dwarf_Addr&	address) const
   {
     bool is_tls_address = false;
-    if (!die_location_address(variable_die, address, is_tls_address))
+    if (!die_location_address(const_cast<Dwarf_Die*>(variable_die),
+			      address, is_tls_address))
       return false;
     if (!is_tls_address)
       address = maybe_adjust_var_sym_address(address);
@@ -7155,6 +7202,40 @@ die_is_declaration_only(Dwarf_Die* die)
   return false;
 }
 
+/// Test if a DIE is for a function decl.
+///
+/// @param die the DIE to consider.
+///
+/// @return true iff @p die represents a function decl.
+static bool
+die_is_function_decl(const Dwarf_Die *die)
+{
+  if (!die)
+    return false;
+
+  int tag = dwarf_tag(const_cast<Dwarf_Die*>(die));
+  if (tag == DW_TAG_subprogram)
+    return true;
+  return false;
+}
+
+/// Test if a DIE is for a variable decl.
+///
+/// @param die the DIE to consider.
+///
+/// @return true iff @p die represents a variable decl.
+static bool
+die_is_variable_decl(const Dwarf_Die *die)
+{
+    if (!die)
+    return false;
+
+  int tag = dwarf_tag(const_cast<Dwarf_Die*>(die));
+  if (tag == DW_TAG_variable)
+    return true;
+  return false;
+}
+
 /// Test if a DIE has size attribute.
 ///
 /// @param die the DIE to consider.
@@ -12690,9 +12771,13 @@ build_translation_unit_and_add_to_ir(read_context&	ctxt,
   result->set_is_constructed(false);
 
   do
-    build_ir_node_from_die(ctxt, &child,
-			   die_is_public_decl(&child),
-			   dwarf_dieoffset(&child));
+    // Analyze all the DIEs we encounter unless we are asked to only
+    // analyze exported interfaces and the types reachables from them.
+    if (!ctxt.env()->analyze_exported_interfaces_only()
+	|| ctxt.is_decl_die_with_exported_symbol(&child))
+      build_ir_node_from_die(ctxt, &child,
+			     die_is_public_decl(&child),
+			     dwarf_dieoffset(&child));
   while (dwarf_siblingof(&child, &child) == 0);
 
   if (!ctxt.var_decls_to_re_add_to_tree().empty())
@@ -15699,6 +15784,16 @@ read_debug_info_into_corpus(read_context& ctxt)
     origin |= corpus::LINUX_KERNEL_BINARY_ORIGIN;
   ctxt.current_corpus()->set_origin(origin);
 
+  if (origin & corpus::LINUX_KERNEL_BINARY_ORIGIN
+      && !ctxt.env()->user_set_analyze_exported_interfaces_only())
+    // So we are looking at the Linux Kernel and the user has not set
+    // any particular option regarding the amount of types to analyse.
+    // In that case, we need to only analyze types that are reachable
+    // from exported interfaces otherwise we get such a massive amount
+    // of type DIEs to look at that things are just too slow down the
+    // road.
+    ctxt.env()->analyze_exported_interfaces_only(true);
+
   ctxt.current_corpus()->set_soname(ctxt.dt_soname());
   ctxt.current_corpus()->set_needed(ctxt.dt_needed());
   ctxt.current_corpus()->set_architecture_name(ctxt.elf_architecture());
diff --git a/src/abg-ir-priv.h b/src/abg-ir-priv.h
index 45b711b7..21734b25 100644
--- a/src/abg-ir-priv.h
+++ b/src/abg-ir-priv.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ namespace ir
 {
 
 using std::string;
+using abg_compat::optional;
 
 /// The result of structural comparison of type ABI artifacts.
 enum comparison_result
@@ -443,6 +444,7 @@ struct environment::priv
   bool					decl_only_class_equals_definition_;
   bool					use_enum_binary_only_equality_;
   bool					allow_type_comparison_results_caching_;
+  optional<bool>			analyze_exported_interfaces_only_;
 #ifdef WITH_DEBUG_SELF_COMPARISON
   bool					self_comparison_debug_on_;
 #endif
diff --git a/src/abg-ir.cc b/src/abg-ir.cc
index 91c8e99b..02d68e63 100644
--- a/src/abg-ir.cc
+++ b/src/abg-ir.cc
@@ -3674,6 +3674,42 @@ const config&
 environment::get_config() const
 {return priv_->config_;}
 
+/// Getter for a property that says if the user actually did set the
+/// analyze_exported_interfaces_only() property.  If not, it means
+/// the default behaviour prevails.
+///
+/// @return tru iff the user did set the
+/// analyze_exported_interfaces_only() property.
+bool
+environment::user_set_analyze_exported_interfaces_only() const
+{return priv_->analyze_exported_interfaces_only_.has_value();}
+
+/// Setter for the property that controls if we are to restrict the
+/// analysis to the types that are only reachable from the exported
+/// interfaces only, or if the set of types should be more broad than
+/// that.  Typically, we'd restrict the analysis to types reachable
+/// from exported interfaces only (stricto sensu, that would really be
+/// only the types that are part of the ABI of well designed
+/// libraries) for performance reasons.
+///
+/// @param f the value of the flag.
+void
+environment::analyze_exported_interfaces_only(bool f)
+{priv_->analyze_exported_interfaces_only_ = f;}
+
+/// Getter for the property that controls if we are to restrict the
+/// analysis to the types that are only reachable from the exported
+/// interfaces only, or if the set of types should be more broad than
+/// that.  Typically, we'd restrict the analysis to types reachable
+/// from exported interfaces only (stricto sensu, that would really be
+/// only the types that are part of the ABI of well designed
+/// libraries) for performance reasons.
+///
+/// @param f the value of the flag.
+bool
+environment::analyze_exported_interfaces_only() const
+{return priv_->analyze_exported_interfaces_only_.value_or(false);}
+
 #ifdef WITH_DEBUG_SELF_COMPARISON
 /// Setter of the corpus of the input corpus of the self comparison
 /// that takes place when doing "abidw --debug-abidiff <binary>".
diff --git a/tools/abidiff.cc b/tools/abidiff.cc
index 97b036cb..e0bb35ac 100644
--- a/tools/abidiff.cc
+++ b/tools/abidiff.cc
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ using std::ostream;
 using std::cout;
 using std::cerr;
 using std::shared_ptr;
+using abg_compat::optional;
 using abigail::ir::environment;
 using abigail::ir::environment_sptr;
 using abigail::translation_unit;
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ struct options
   vector<string>	headers_dirs2;
   vector<string>        header_files2;
   bool			drop_private_types;
+  optional<bool>	exported_interfaces_only;
   bool			linux_kernel_mode;
   bool			no_default_supprs;
   bool			no_arch;
@@ -197,6 +199,9 @@ display_usage(const string& prog_name, ostream& out)
     << " --header-file2|--hf2 <path>  the path to one header of file2\n"
     << " --drop-private-types  drop private types from "
     "internal representation\n"
+    << "  --exported-interfaces-only  analyze exported interfaces only\n"
+    << "  --allow-non-exported-interfaces  analyze interfaces that "
+    "might not be exported\n"
     << " --no-linux-kernel-mode  don't consider the input binaries as "
        "linux kernel binaries\n"
     << " --kmi-whitelist|-w  path to a "
@@ -403,6 +408,10 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, char* argv[], options& opts)
 	}
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--drop-private-types"))
 	opts.drop_private_types = true;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--exported-interfaces-only"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = true;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--allow-non-exported-interfaces"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = false;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--no-default-suppression"))
 	opts.no_default_supprs = true;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--no-architecture"))
@@ -1130,6 +1139,9 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
       t2_type = guess_file_type(opts.file2);
 
       environment_sptr env(new environment);
+      if (opts.exported_interfaces_only.has_value())
+	env->analyze_exported_interfaces_only(*opts.exported_interfaces_only);
+
 #ifdef WITH_DEBUG_SELF_COMPARISON
 	    if (opts.do_debug)
 	      env->self_comparison_debug_is_on(true);
diff --git a/tools/abidw.cc b/tools/abidw.cc
index 9a27a029..f38d6048 100644
--- a/tools/abidw.cc
+++ b/tools/abidw.cc
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ using std::ostream;
 using std::ofstream;
 using std::vector;
 using std::shared_ptr;
+using abg_compat::optional;
 using abigail::tools_utils::emit_prefix;
 using abigail::tools_utils::temp_file;
 using abigail::tools_utils::temp_file_sptr;
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ struct options
   bool			do_log;
   bool			drop_private_types;
   bool			drop_undefined_syms;
+  optional<bool>	exported_interfaces_only;
   type_id_style_kind	type_id_style;
 #ifdef WITH_DEBUG_SELF_COMPARISON
   string		type_id_file_path;
@@ -187,6 +189,9 @@ display_usage(const string& prog_name, ostream& out)
     << "  --short-locs  only print filenames rather than paths\n"
     << "  --drop-private-types  drop private types from representation\n"
     << "  --drop-undefined-syms  drop undefined symbols from representation\n"
+    << "  --exported-interfaces-only  analyze exported interfaces only\n"
+    << "  --allow-non-exported-interfaces  analyze interfaces that "
+    "might not be exported\n"
     << "  --no-comp-dir-path  do not show compilation path information\n"
     << "  --no-elf-needed  do not show the DT_NEEDED information\n"
     << "  --no-write-default-sizes  do not emit pointer size when it equals"
@@ -368,6 +373,10 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, char* argv[], options& opts)
 	opts.drop_private_types = true;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--drop-undefined-syms"))
 	opts.drop_undefined_syms = true;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--exported-interfaces-only"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = true;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--allow-non-exported-interfaces"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = false;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--no-linux-kernel-mode"))
 	opts.linux_kernel_mode = false;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--abidiff"))
@@ -606,6 +615,9 @@ load_corpus_and_write_abixml(char* argv[],
             }
         }
 
+      if (opts.exported_interfaces_only.has_value())
+	env->analyze_exported_interfaces_only(*opts.exported_interfaces_only);
+
       t.start();
       corp = dwarf_reader::read_corpus_from_elf(ctxt, s);
       t.stop();
@@ -813,6 +825,9 @@ load_kernel_corpus_group_and_write_abixml(char* argv[],
   timer t, global_timer;
   suppressions_type supprs;
 
+  if (opts.exported_interfaces_only.has_value())
+    env->analyze_exported_interfaces_only(*opts.exported_interfaces_only);
+
   if (opts.do_log)
     emit_prefix(argv[0], cerr)
       << "going to build ABI representation of the Linux Kernel ...\n";
diff --git a/tools/abipkgdiff.cc b/tools/abipkgdiff.cc
index 551080b9..656d5882 100644
--- a/tools/abipkgdiff.cc
+++ b/tools/abipkgdiff.cc
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ using std::set;
 using std::ostringstream;
 using std::shared_ptr;
 using std::dynamic_pointer_cast;
+using abg_compat::optional;
 using abigail::workers::task;
 using abigail::workers::task_sptr;
 using abigail::workers::queue;
@@ -205,6 +206,7 @@ public:
   bool		fail_if_no_debug_info;
   bool		show_identical_binaries;
   bool		self_check;
+  optional<bool> exported_interfaces_only;
 #ifdef WITH_CTF
   bool		use_ctf;
 #endif
@@ -868,6 +870,9 @@ display_usage(const string& prog_name, ostream& out)
     "full impact analysis report rather than the default leaf changes reports\n"
     << " --non-reachable-types|-t  consider types non reachable"
     " from public interfaces\n"
+    << "  --exported-interfaces-only  analyze exported interfaces only\n"
+    << "  --allow-non-exported-interfaces  analyze interfaces that "
+    "might not be exported\n"
     << " --no-linkage-name		do not display linkage names of "
     "added/removed/changed\n"
     << " --redundant                    display redundant changes\n"
@@ -2076,6 +2081,10 @@ public:
     abigail::elf_reader::status detailed_status =
       abigail::elf_reader::STATUS_UNKNOWN;
 
+    if (args->opts.exported_interfaces_only.has_value())
+      env->analyze_exported_interfaces_only
+	(*args->opts.exported_interfaces_only);
+
     status |= compare(args->elf1, args->debug_dir1, args->private_types_suppr1,
 		      args->elf2, args->debug_dir2, args->private_types_suppr2,
 		      args->opts, env, diff, ctxt, &detailed_status);
@@ -2142,6 +2151,10 @@ public:
     diff_context_sptr ctxt;
     corpus_diff_sptr diff;
 
+    if (args->opts.exported_interfaces_only.has_value())
+      env->analyze_exported_interfaces_only
+	(*args->opts.exported_interfaces_only);
+
     abigail::elf_reader::status detailed_status =
       abigail::elf_reader::STATUS_UNKNOWN;
 
@@ -3024,6 +3037,10 @@ compare_prepared_linux_kernel_packages(package& first_package,
   string dist_root2 = second_package.extracted_dir_path();
 
   abigail::ir::environment_sptr env(new abigail::ir::environment);
+  if (opts.exported_interfaces_only.has_value())
+    env->analyze_exported_interfaces_only
+      (*opts.exported_interfaces_only);
+
   suppressions_type supprs;
   corpus_group_sptr corpus1, corpus2;
   corpus1 = build_corpus_group_from_kernel_dist_under(dist_root1,
@@ -3326,6 +3343,10 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, char* argv[], options& opts)
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--full-impact")
 	       ||!strcmp(argv[i], "-f"))
 	opts.show_full_impact_report = true;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--exported-interfaces-only"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = true;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--allow-non-exported-interfaces"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = false;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--no-linkage-name"))
 	opts.show_linkage_names = false;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--redundant"))
diff --git a/tools/kmidiff.cc b/tools/kmidiff.cc
index 8fd3fed9..f3332765 100644
--- a/tools/kmidiff.cc
+++ b/tools/kmidiff.cc
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ using std::vector;
 using std::ostream;
 using std::cout;
 using std::cerr;
+using abg_compat::optional;
 
 using namespace abigail::tools_utils;
 using namespace abigail::dwarf_reader;
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ struct options
   bool			show_hexadecimal_values;
   bool			show_offsets_sizes_in_bits;
   bool			show_impacted_interfaces;
+  optional<bool>	exported_interfaces_only;
 #ifdef WITH_CTF
   bool			use_ctf;
 #endif
@@ -120,6 +122,9 @@ display_usage(const string& prog_name, ostream& out)
     << " --impacted-interfaces|-i  show interfaces impacted by ABI changes\n"
     << " --full-impact|-f  show the full impact of changes on top-most "
 	 "interfaces\n"
+    << "  --exported-interfaces-only  analyze exported interfaces only\n"
+    << "  --allow-non-exported-interfaces  analyze interfaces that "
+    "might not be exported\n"
     << " --show-bytes  show size and offsets in bytes\n"
     << " --show-bits  show size and offsets in bits\n"
     << " --show-hex  show size and offset in hexadecimal\n"
@@ -262,6 +267,10 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, char* argv[], options& opts)
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--full-impact")
 	       || !strcmp(argv[i], "-f"))
 	opts.leaf_changes_only = false;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--exported-interfaces-only"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = true;
+      else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--allow-non-exported-interfaces"))
+	opts.exported_interfaces_only = false;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--show-bytes"))
 	opts.show_offsets_sizes_in_bits = false;
       else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--show-bits"))
@@ -408,6 +417,9 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
 
   environment_sptr env(new environment);
 
+  if (opts.exported_interfaces_only.has_value())
+    env->analyze_exported_interfaces_only(*opts.exported_interfaces_only);
+
   corpus_group_sptr group1, group2;
   string debug_info_root_dir;
   corpus::origin origin =
