diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn b/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn
index a74ce2e3c33eb402c58418870bc7b1cf62a29285..d226c5fb13e28313203c4a2ece531f350a30c3ea 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.extrawarn
@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 # ==========================================================================
-#
 # make W=... settings
 #
-# W=1 - warnings that may be relevant and does not occur too often
-# W=2 - warnings that occur quite often but may still be relevant
-# W=3 - the more obscure warnings, can most likely be ignored
-#
-# $(call cc-option, -W...) handles gcc -W.. options which
-# are not supported by all versions of the compiler
+# There are three warning groups enabled by W=1, W=2, W=3.
+# They are independent, and can be combined like W=12 or W=123.
 # ==========================================================================
 
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-disable-warning, packed-not-aligned)
@@ -17,58 +12,69 @@ ifeq ("$(origin W)", "command line")
   export KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS := $(W)
 endif
 
-ifdef KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS
-warning-  := $(empty)
+#
+# W=1 - warnings which may be relevant and do not occur too often
+#
+ifneq ($(findstring 1, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
 
-warning-1 := -Wextra -Wunused -Wno-unused-parameter
-warning-1 += -Wmissing-declarations
-warning-1 += -Wmissing-format-attribute
-warning-1 += -Wmissing-prototypes
-warning-1 += -Wold-style-definition
-warning-1 += -Wmissing-include-dirs
-warning-1 += $(call cc-option, -Wunused-but-set-variable)
-warning-1 += $(call cc-option, -Wunused-const-variable)
-warning-1 += $(call cc-option, -Wpacked-not-aligned)
-warning-1 += $(call cc-option, -Wstringop-truncation)
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wextra -Wunused -Wno-unused-parameter
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wmissing-declarations
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wmissing-format-attribute
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wmissing-prototypes
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wold-style-definition
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wmissing-include-dirs
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wunused-but-set-variable)
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wunused-const-variable)
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wpacked-not-aligned)
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wstringop-truncation)
 # The following turn off the warnings enabled by -Wextra
-warning-1 += -Wno-missing-field-initializers
-warning-1 += -Wno-sign-compare
-
-warning-2 += -Wcast-align
-warning-2 += -Wdisabled-optimization
-warning-2 += -Wnested-externs
-warning-2 += -Wshadow
-warning-2 += $(call cc-option, -Wlogical-op)
-warning-2 += -Wmissing-field-initializers
-warning-2 += -Wsign-compare
-warning-2 += $(call cc-option, -Wmaybe-uninitialized)
-warning-2 += $(call cc-option, -Wunused-macros)
-
-warning-3 := -Wbad-function-cast
-warning-3 += -Wcast-qual
-warning-3 += -Wconversion
-warning-3 += -Wpacked
-warning-3 += -Wpadded
-warning-3 += -Wpointer-arith
-warning-3 += -Wredundant-decls
-warning-3 += -Wswitch-default
-warning-3 += $(call cc-option, -Wpacked-bitfield-compat)
-
-warning := $(warning-$(findstring 1, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)))
-warning += $(warning-$(findstring 2, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)))
-warning += $(warning-$(findstring 3, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)))
-
-ifeq ("$(strip $(warning))","")
-        $(error W=$(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS) is unknown)
-endif
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wno-missing-field-initializers
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wno-sign-compare
 
-KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(warning)
 else
 
+# Some diagnostics enabled by default are noisy.
+# Suppress them by using -Wno... except for W=1.
+
 ifdef CONFIG_CC_IS_CLANG
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wno-initializer-overrides
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wno-format
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wno-sign-compare
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wno-format-zero-length
 endif
+
+endif
+
+#
+# W=2 - warnings which occur quite often but may still be relevant
+#
+ifneq ($(findstring 2, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wcast-align
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wdisabled-optimization
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wnested-externs
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wshadow
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wlogical-op)
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wmissing-field-initializers
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wsign-compare
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wmaybe-uninitialized)
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wunused-macros)
+
+endif
+
+#
+# W=3 - more obscure warnings, can most likely be ignored
+#
+ifneq ($(findstring 3, $(KBUILD_ENABLE_EXTRA_GCC_CHECKS)),)
+
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wbad-function-cast
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wcast-qual
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wconversion
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wpacked
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wpadded
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wpointer-arith
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wredundant-decls
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wswitch-default
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wpacked-bitfield-compat)
+
 endif