diff --git a/poky/meta/lib/oe/utils.py b/poky/meta/lib/oe/utils.py
index 652b2be..13f4271 100644
--- a/poky/meta/lib/oe/utils.py
+++ b/poky/meta/lib/oe/utils.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@
     """
     return bb.utils.contains_any("DISTRO_FEATURES", features, truevalue, falsevalue, d)
 
-def parallel_make(d):
+def parallel_make(d, makeinst=False):
     """
     Return the integer value for the number of parallel threads to use when
     building, scraped out of PARALLEL_MAKE. If no parallelization option is
@@ -177,7 +177,10 @@
 
     e.g. if PARALLEL_MAKE = "-j 10", this will return 10 as an integer.
     """
-    pm = (d.getVar('PARALLEL_MAKE') or '').split()
+    if makeinst:
+        pm = (d.getVar('PARALLEL_MAKEINST') or '').split()
+    else:
+        pm = (d.getVar('PARALLEL_MAKE') or '').split()
     # look for '-j' and throw other options (e.g. '-l') away
     while pm:
         opt = pm.pop(0)
@@ -192,7 +195,7 @@
 
     return None
 
-def parallel_make_argument(d, fmt, limit=None):
+def parallel_make_argument(d, fmt, limit=None, makeinst=False):
     """
     Helper utility to construct a parallel make argument from the number of
     parallel threads specified in PARALLEL_MAKE.
@@ -205,7 +208,7 @@
     e.g. if PARALLEL_MAKE = "-j 10", parallel_make_argument(d, "-n %d") will return
     "-n 10"
     """
-    v = parallel_make(d)
+    v = parallel_make(d, makeinst)
     if v:
         if limit:
             v = min(limit, v)
@@ -245,9 +248,10 @@
     trimmed = ".".join(parts[:num_parts])
     return trimmed
 
-def cpu_count():
+def cpu_count(at_least=1):
     import multiprocessing
-    return multiprocessing.cpu_count()
+    cpus = multiprocessing.cpu_count()
+    return max(cpus, at_least)
 
 def execute_pre_post_process(d, cmds):
     if cmds is None:
@@ -369,6 +373,37 @@
 
     return output_str
 
+
+# Helper function to get the host compiler version
+# Do not assume the compiler is gcc
+def get_host_compiler_version(d, taskcontextonly=False):
+    import re, subprocess
+
+    if taskcontextonly and d.getVar('BB_WORKERCONTEXT') != '1':
+        return
+
+    compiler = d.getVar("BUILD_CC")
+    # Get rid of ccache since it is not present when parsing.
+    if compiler.startswith('ccache '):
+        compiler = compiler[7:]
+    try:
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        # datastore PATH does not contain session PATH as set by environment-setup-...
+        # this breaks the install-buildtools use-case
+        # env["PATH"] = d.getVar("PATH")
+        output = subprocess.check_output("%s --version" % compiler, \
+                    shell=True, env=env, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).decode("utf-8")
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+        bb.fatal("Error running %s --version: %s" % (compiler, e.output.decode("utf-8")))
+
+    match = re.match(r".* (\d+\.\d+)\.\d+.*", output.split('\n')[0])
+    if not match:
+        bb.fatal("Can't get compiler version from %s --version output" % compiler)
+
+    version = match.group(1)
+    return compiler, version
+
+
 def host_gcc_version(d, taskcontextonly=False):
     import re, subprocess
 
@@ -387,7 +422,7 @@
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
         bb.fatal("Error running %s --version: %s" % (compiler, e.output.decode("utf-8")))
 
-    match = re.match(r".* (\d\.\d)\.\d.*", output.split('\n')[0])
+    match = re.match(r".* (\d+\.\d+)\.\d+.*", output.split('\n')[0])
     if not match:
         bb.fatal("Can't get compiler version from %s --version output" % compiler)