diff -r 9214f8440c44 Objects/object.c
--- a/Objects/object.c	Sat Nov 10 14:52:10 2012 +0000
+++ b/Objects/object.c	Sun Nov 11 00:38:31 2012 +0200
@@ -771,7 +771,19 @@
     }
     x = (Py_uhash_t) _Py_HashSecret.prefix;
     x ^= (Py_uhash_t) *p << 7;
-    for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+    i = 0;
+#define HASH_BLOCK size_t
+    if (_Py_IS_ALIGNED(p, sizeof(HASH_BLOCK)) && len >= sizeof(HASH_BLOCK)) {
+        HASH_BLOCK *q = (HASH_BLOCK *)p;
+        HASH_BLOCK *e = (HASH_BLOCK *)_Py_ALIGN_DOWN(p + len,
+                                                     sizeof(HASH_BLOCK));
+        while (q < e)
+            x = (_PyHASH_MULTIPLIER * x) ^ (Py_uhash_t) *q++;
+        i = (unsigned char *)q - p;
+        p = (unsigned char *)q;
+    }
+#undef HASH_BLOCK
+    for (; i < len; i++)
         x = (_PyHASH_MULTIPLIER * x) ^ (Py_uhash_t) *p++;
     x ^= (Py_uhash_t) len;
     x ^= (Py_uhash_t) _Py_HashSecret.suffix;
diff -r 9214f8440c44 Objects/unicodeobject.c
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c	Sat Nov 10 14:52:10 2012 +0000
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c	Sun Nov 11 00:38:31 2012 +0200
@@ -10880,7 +10880,6 @@
 static Py_hash_t
 unicode_hash(PyObject *self)
 {
-    Py_ssize_t len;
     Py_uhash_t x;
 
 #ifdef Py_DEBUG
@@ -10890,48 +10889,8 @@
         return _PyUnicode_HASH(self);
     if (PyUnicode_READY(self) == -1)
         return -1;
-    len = PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(self);
-    /*
-      We make the hash of the empty string be 0, rather than using
-      (prefix ^ suffix), since this slightly obfuscates the hash secret
-    */
-    if (len == 0) {
-        _PyUnicode_HASH(self) = 0;
-        return 0;
-    }
-
-    /* The hash function as a macro, gets expanded three times below. */
-#define HASH(P)                                            \
-    x ^= (Py_uhash_t) *P << 7;                             \
-    while (--len >= 0)                                     \
-        x = (_PyHASH_MULTIPLIER * x) ^ (Py_uhash_t) *P++;  \
-
-    x = (Py_uhash_t) _Py_HashSecret.prefix;
-    switch (PyUnicode_KIND(self)) {
-    case PyUnicode_1BYTE_KIND: {
-        const unsigned char *c = PyUnicode_1BYTE_DATA(self);
-        HASH(c);
-        break;
-    }
-    case PyUnicode_2BYTE_KIND: {
-        const Py_UCS2 *s = PyUnicode_2BYTE_DATA(self);
-        HASH(s);
-        break;
-    }
-    default: {
-        Py_UCS4 *l;
-        assert(PyUnicode_KIND(self) == PyUnicode_4BYTE_KIND &&
-               "Impossible switch case in unicode_hash");
-        l = PyUnicode_4BYTE_DATA(self);
-        HASH(l);
-        break;
-    }
-    }
-    x ^= (Py_uhash_t) PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(self);
-    x ^= (Py_uhash_t) _Py_HashSecret.suffix;
-
-    if (x == -1)
-        x = -2;
+    x = _Py_HashBytes(PyUnicode_DATA(self),
+                      PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(self) * PyUnicode_KIND(self));
     _PyUnicode_HASH(self) = x;
     return x;
 }