diff --git a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog
index 59a23b2252..53abafb3b9 100644
--- a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog
+++ b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 5.4.9
 	- updated version of internal OTF to 1.3.12 (see extlib/otf/ChangeLog)
+	- added support for cycle counter timer on Alpha and Sparc platforms
 	- install header files to 'PREFIX/include/vampirtrace' by default to
 	  avoid conflicts with the OpenMPI integrated version of VT
 	- added configure option '--with[out]-bfd' to control usage of BFD
diff --git a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/vtlib/vt_pform_linux.c b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/vtlib/vt_pform_linux.c
index efaf6219a6..38bbd869a2 100644
--- a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/vtlib/vt_pform_linux.c
+++ b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/vtlib/vt_pform_linux.c
@@ -159,25 +159,31 @@ uint64_t vt_pform_wtime()
       uint32_t low = 0;
       uint32_t higha = 0;
       uint32_t highb = 0;
-    
+
       do {
-	asm volatile ("mftbu %0" : "=r"(highb));
-	asm volatile ("mftb %0" : "=r"(low));
-	asm volatile ("mftbu %0" : "=r"(higha));
+        asm volatile ("mftbu %0" : "=r"(highb));
+        asm volatile ("mftb %0" : "=r"(low));
+        asm volatile ("mftbu %0" : "=r"(higha));
       } while (highb != higha);
       clock_value = ((uint64_t)higha << 32) | (uint64_t)low;
     }
 # elif defined(__ia64__)
     /* ... ITC */
     clock_value = __getReg(_IA64_REG_AR_ITC);
+# elif defined(__alpha__)
+    /* ... Alpha */
+    asm volatile ("rpcc %0" : "=r"(clock_value));
+# elif defined(__sparc__)
+    /* ... Sparc */
+    asm ("rd %%tick, %0" : "=r"(clock_value));
 # else
     /* ... TSC */
     {
       uint32_t low = 0;
       uint32_t high = 0;
-       
+
       asm volatile ("rdtsc" : "=a" (low), "=d" (high));
-       
+
       clock_value = ((uint64_t)high << 32) | (uint64_t)low;
     }
 # endif