diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index d12435992dea9d9910a007ec0bfd48e0230a26cd..421bbb47844f2285acdef392053ffd403328f312 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2552,8 +2552,15 @@ sub process {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if ($line =~ /^\+.*(\w+\s*)?\(\s*$Type\s*\)[ \t]+(?!$Assignment|$Arithmetic|[,;:\?\(\{\}\[\<\>]|&&|\|\||\\$)/ &&
-		    (!defined($1) || $1 !~ /sizeof\s*/)) {
+# check for space after cast like "(int) foo" or "(struct foo) bar"
+# avoid checking a few false positives:
+#   "sizeof(<type>)" or "__alignof__(<type>)"
+#   function pointer declarations like "(*foo)(int) = bar;"
+#   structure definitions like "(struct foo) { 0 };"
+#   multiline macros that define functions
+#   known attributes or the __attribute__ keyword
+		if ($line =~ /^\+(.*)\(\s*$Type\s*\)([ \t]++)((?![={]|\\$|$Attribute|__attribute__))/ &&
+		    (!defined($1) || $1 !~ /\b(?:sizeof|__alignof__)\s*$/)) {
 			if (CHK("SPACING",
 				"No space is necessary after a cast\n" . $herecurr) &&
 			    $fix) {