diff --git a/scripts/kernel_upgrade.pl b/scripts/kernel_upgrade.pl
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000000..5514a18e0d05d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/kernel_upgrade.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,305 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+#########################################################################
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later				#
+#									#
+# Copyright © 2024 Elliott Mitchell <ehem+openwrt@m5p.com>		#
+#########################################################################
+
+use warnings;
+use strict;
+
+#
+# I'm not certain the technique originated here, but this comes from:
+# <https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20190919-00/?p=102904>
+#
+# Problem is copying a file in git causes the new file to be created
+# without any history.  Files can move around without losing their
+# history, but that only leaves the history on the new location.
+#
+# As such this can be solved with two commits.  The first commit moves
+# files from their old name to their new name.  The second merges the
+# original commit with the rename commit.  The merge commit then has
+# files in both locations with the full history.
+#
+#
+# Note, git handles discarded data by garbage collection.  When doing
+# development on this script, beware this script is an excellent
+# garbage generator.  Frequent use of `git gc` and `git prune` may be
+# needed.
+#
+
+
+sub gethead()
+{
+	open(my $fd, '-|', 'git', 'rev-parse', 'HEAD');
+	$_=<$fd>;
+	chop if(defined($_));
+	return $_;
+}
+
+sub getlistmatch($$$)
+{
+	my ($commit, $from, $target)=@_;
+	my $ret=[];
+
+	local $/="\0";
+	open(my $fd, '-| :raw :bytes', 'git', 'ls-tree', '-trz', '--full-tree',
+'--name-only', $commit.':', '--', $target)||die("failed to read git tree");
+
+	while(<$fd>) {
+		chop($_);
+		push(@$ret, substr($_, 0, -length($from)))
+if(index($_, $from, length($_)-length($from))>0);
+	}
+
+	@$ret=sort({length($b)-length($a)} @$ret);
+
+	return $ret;
+}
+
+{ # start of interface to git fast-import
+package GitImporter;
+
+# git fast-import's protocol uses *linefeeds*
+local $/="\n";
+
+sub new()
+{
+	my $class=shift;
+	my $self={};
+	my @child;
+	pipe($child[0], $self->{out}) || die("pipe() failed");
+	binmode($self->{out});
+
+	local $^F=fileno($self->{out})+10;
+	pipe($self->{in}, $child[1]) || die("pipe() failed");
+	binmode($self->{in});
+
+	$self->{pid}=fork();
+	if($self->{pid}==0) {
+		close($self->{out});
+		close($self->{in});
+
+		open(STDIN, '<&', $child[0]);
+		close($child[0]);
+
+		exec('git', 'fast-import', '--done', '--cat-blob-fd='.fileno($child[1]));
+		die('exec() of git failed');
+	} elsif(!$self->{pid}) {
+		die('fork() failed');
+	}
+	close($child[0]);
+	close($child[1]);
+	$self->{out}->autoflush(1);
+
+	return bless($self, $class);
+}
+
+sub send($)
+{
+	my $self=shift;
+	my ($data)=@_;
+	return print({$self->{out}} $data);
+}
+
+sub putcmd($)
+{
+	my $self=shift;
+	my ($data)=@_;
+	return $self->send("$data\n");
+}
+
+sub recv()
+{
+	my $self=shift;
+	return $_=readline($self->{in});
+}
+
+sub getres()
+{
+	my $self=shift;
+	$_=$self->recv();
+	chomp;
+	return $_;
+}
+
+sub ls($$)
+{
+	my $self=shift;
+	my ($commit, $name)=@_;
+
+	$commit.=' ' if($commit);
+	$self->putcmd("ls $commit$name");
+	$self->getres();
+
+	if(/^([0-8]+)\s+[a-z]+\s+([0-9a-z]+)\s+.*$/) {
+		return [$1, $2];
+	} elsif(/^missing $name$/) {
+		return undef;
+	} else {
+		die("git ls failed data=\"ls $commit$name\" res=\"$_\"");
+	}
+}
+
+sub commit($$;$@)
+{
+	my $self=shift;
+	my ($mark, $message, $parent, @parents)=@_;
+
+	use feature 'state';
+	use Digest::SHA qw(sha1_hex);
+
+	state $author;
+	unless($author) {
+		$author=['', ''];
+		open(my $user, '-|', 'git', 'config', '--get', 'user.name');
+		while(<$user>) {
+			chomp;
+			$author->[0].=$_;
+		}
+		$author->[0]=[split(/,/, [getpwuid($<)]->[6])]->[0]
+unless($author->[0]);
+
+		open(my $email, '-|', 'git', 'config', '--get', 'user.email');
+		while(<$email>) {
+			chomp;
+			$author->[1].=$_;
+		}
+		$author->[1]='anonymous@example.com' unless($author->[1]);
+
+		$author=$author->[0].' <'.$author->[1].'>';
+	}
+
+	$_=sha1_hex(time());
+	$self->putcmd("commit $_");
+	$self->putcmd("mark $mark");
+	$self->putcmd("committer $author ".time()." +0000");
+
+	$_=length($message);
+	$self->putcmd("data $_");
+	$self->send($message);
+
+	$self->putcmd("from $parent") if($parent);
+	$self->putcmd("merge $_") foreach(@parents);
+}
+
+sub DESTROY()
+{
+	my $self=shift;
+
+	$self->putcmd('done');
+	close($self->{out});
+	delete $self->{out};
+
+	0 while(waitpid($self->{pid}, 0)!=$self->{pid});
+	delete $self->{pid};
+	close($self->{in});
+	delete $self->{in};
+
+	print(STDERR <<~"__GIT_STATUS__") if($?);
+	WARNING: git returned error exit status: $?
+
+	This likely means `git gc` needs to be run, but the return codes of
+	`git fast-import` are undocumented.
+
+	NOTICE: `git gc` should be run AFTER merging or creating the branch.
+	Otherwise, the new commit is unreferenced and could be garbage-
+	collected.
+
+	__GIT_STATUS__
+}
+} # end of interface to git fast-import
+
+
+die(<<"__USAGE__") if(@ARGV!=2);
+Usage: $0 <old-version> <new-version>
+
+Copies all kernel configuration files and patches from the old version
+to the new version.  Git history is preserved on the copies by using a
+move/merge strategy.  Must be run while somewhere inside the git
+repository directory, but it does not matter where.
+
+This can be used with partially updated repositories.  If some boards
+have been updated, their configurations will be left untouched.  It is
+suggested the versions should be of the form \"-X.Y\" to better ensure
+extraneous files are left untouched.
+
+Note, the two strings are non-optional, but completely free-form.
+There are no limitations besides whether they can be used in a
+file-name (\\0 is the only invalid character).
+__USAGE__
+
+my $from=shift(@ARGV);
+my $to=shift(@ARGV);
+
+
+my $target='target/linux/';
+
+my $start=gethead();
+
+die('git failed, likely not inside OpenWRT git repository?') unless($start||
+($0=~m/^(.*)\// and chdir($1) and $start=gethead()));
+
+my $list=getlistmatch('HEAD', $from, $target);
+
+die("no files matching \"$from\" found") unless(@$list);
+
+
+my $git=GitImporter->new();
+
+$git->commit(':1', <<"__TMP__", $start);
+kernel: add configs and patches for $to
+
+This is a special tool-generated commit.
+
+Copy configuration and patches from $from to $to.
+
+If you see this commit during a `git bisect` session, the recommended
+course of action is to run `git bisect skip`.
+
+If this is the last commit you see during `git log`, you likely want to
+use `git log --follow`.
+__TMP__
+
+foreach my $name (@$list) {
+	next if($git->ls($start, "$name$to"));
+	my $new=$git->ls($start, "$name$from");
+	$git->putcmd("M $new->[0] $new->[1] $name$to");
+	$git->putcmd("D $name$from");
+}
+$git->putcmd('');
+
+
+$git->commit(':2', <<"__TMP__", ':1', $start);
+kernel: finish update from $from to $to
+
+This is a special tool-generated commit.
+
+Merge the add commit into HEAD to create all files with full history.
+__TMP__
+
+foreach my $name (@$list) {
+	next if($git->ls($start, "$name$to"));
+	my $new=$git->ls($start, "$name$from");
+	$git->putcmd("M $new->[0] $new->[1] $name$from");
+}
+$git->putcmd('');
+
+
+$git->putcmd('get-mark :2');
+my $result=$git->getres();
+
+undef($git);
+
+print(<<"__END__");
+Result is commit $result.
+
+Depending on the setup of your development environment, you now likely
+want to run one of two commands:
+
+	`git merge --ff-only $result`
+or:
+	`git branch linux$to $result`
+__END__
+
+exit(0);