diff --git a/mesonbuild/compilers.py b/mesonbuild/compilers.py
index 68a0cd77b..0a88d6b52 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/compilers.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/compilers.py
@@ -716,23 +716,31 @@ class CCompiler(Compiler):
     def has_header(self, hname, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
         if extra_args is None:
             extra_args = []
-        code = '{}\n#include<{}>\nint someUselessSymbol;'.format(prefix, hname)
-        return self.compiles(code, env, extra_args, dependencies, 'preprocess')
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'header': hname}
+        code = '''{prefix}
+        #ifdef __has_include
+         #if !__has_include(<{header}>)
+          #error "Header '{header}' could not be found"
+         #endif
+        #else
+         #include<{header}>
+        #endif'''
+        return self.compiles(code.format(**fargs), env, extra_args,
+                             dependencies, 'preprocess')
 
     def has_header_symbol(self, hname, symbol, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
         if extra_args is None:
             extra_args = []
-        templ = '''{2}
-#include <{0}>
-int main () {{
-  /* If it's not defined as a macro, try to use as a symbol */
-  #ifndef {1}
-    {1};
-  #endif
-  return 0;
-}}'''
-        return self.compiles(templ.format(hname, symbol, prefix), env,
-                             extra_args, dependencies)
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'header': hname, 'symbol': symbol}
+        t = '''{prefix}
+        #include <{header}>
+        int main () {{
+            /* If it's not defined as a macro, try to use as a symbol */
+            #ifndef {symbol}
+                {symbol};
+            #endif
+        }}'''
+        return self.compiles(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies)
 
     @staticmethod
     def _override_args(args, override):
@@ -840,45 +848,47 @@ int main () {{
         mlog.debug(se)
         return RunResult(True, pe.returncode, so, se)
 
-    def cross_sizeof(self, element, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
-        if extra_args is None:
-            extra_args = []
-        element_exists_templ = '''#include <stdio.h>
-{0}
-int main(int argc, char **argv) {{
-    {1} something;
-}}
-'''
-        templ = '''#include <stdio.h>
-%s
-int temparray[%d-sizeof(%s)];
-'''
-        if not self.compiles(element_exists_templ.format(prefix, element), env, extra_args, dependencies):
-            return -1
+    def _bisect_compiles(self, t, fargs, env, extra_args, dependencies):
+        # FIXME: Does not actually do bisection right now
         for i in range(1, 1024):
-            code = templ % (prefix, i, element)
-            if self.compiles(code, env, extra_args, dependencies):
+            fargs['size'] = i
+            if self.compiles(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies):
                 if self.id == 'msvc':
                     # MSVC refuses to construct an array of zero size, so
                     # the test only succeeds when i is sizeof(element) + 1
                     return i - 1
                 return i
-        raise EnvironmentException('Cross checking sizeof overflowed.')
+        raise EnvironmentException('Cross-compile check overflowed')
+
+    def cross_sizeof(self, element, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
+        if extra_args is None:
+            extra_args = []
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'name': element}
+        t = '''#include <stdio.h>
+        {prefix}
+        int main(int argc, char **argv) {{
+            {name} something;
+        }}'''
+        if not self.compiles(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies):
+            return -1
+        t = '''#include <stdio.h>
+        {prefix}
+        int temparray[{size}-sizeof({name})];'''
+        return self._bisect_compiles(t, fargs, env, extra_args, dependencies)
 
     def sizeof(self, element, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
         if extra_args is None:
             extra_args = []
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'name': element}
         if self.is_cross:
             return self.cross_sizeof(element, prefix, env, extra_args, dependencies)
-        templ = '''#include<stdio.h>
-%s
-
-int main(int argc, char **argv) {
-    printf("%%ld\\n", (long)(sizeof(%s)));
-    return 0;
-};
-'''
-        res = self.run(templ % (prefix, element), env, extra_args, dependencies)
+        t = '''#include<stdio.h>
+        {prefix}
+        int main(int argc, char **argv) {{
+            printf("%ld\\n", (long)(sizeof({name})));
+            return 0;
+        }};'''
+        res = self.run(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies)
         if not res.compiled:
             return -1
         if res.returncode != 0:
@@ -888,50 +898,38 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     def cross_alignment(self, typename, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
         if extra_args is None:
             extra_args = []
-        type_exists_templ = '''#include <stdio.h>
-int main(int argc, char **argv) {{
-    {0} something;
-}}
-'''
-        templ = '''#include<stddef.h>
-struct tmp {
-  char c;
-  %s target;
-};
-
-int testarray[%d-offsetof(struct tmp, target)];
-'''
-        if not self.compiles(type_exists_templ.format(typename), env, extra_args, dependencies):
+        fargs = {'type': typename}
+        t = '''#include <stdio.h>
+        int main(int argc, char **argv) {{
+            {type} something;
+        }}'''
+        if not self.compiles(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies):
             return -1
-        for i in range(1, 1024):
-            code = templ % (typename, i)
-            if self.compiles(code, env, extra_args, dependencies):
-                if self.id == 'msvc':
-                    # MSVC refuses to construct an array of zero size, so
-                    # the test only succeeds when i is sizeof(element) + 1
-                    return i - 1
-                return i
-        raise EnvironmentException('Cross checking offsetof overflowed.')
+        t = '''#include <stddef.h>
+        struct tmp {{
+            char c;
+            {type} target;
+        }};
+        int testarray[{size}-offsetof(struct tmp, target)];'''
+        return self._bisect_compiles(t, fargs, env, extra_args, dependencies)
 
     def alignment(self, typename, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
         if extra_args is None:
             extra_args = []
         if self.is_cross:
             return self.cross_alignment(typename, env, extra_args, dependencies)
-        templ = '''#include<stdio.h>
-#include<stddef.h>
-
-struct tmp {
-  char c;
-  %s target;
-};
-
-int main(int argc, char **argv) {
-  printf("%%d", (int)offsetof(struct tmp, target));
-  return 0;
-}
-'''
-        res = self.run(templ % typename, env, extra_args, dependencies)
+        fargs = {'type': typename}
+        t = '''#include <stdio.h>
+        #include <stddef.h>
+        struct tmp {{
+            char c;
+            {type} target;
+        }};
+        int main(int argc, char **argv) {{
+            printf("%d", (int)offsetof(struct tmp, target));
+            return 0;
+        }}'''
+        res = self.run(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies)
         if not res.compiled:
             raise EnvironmentException('Could not compile alignment test.')
         if res.returncode != 0:
@@ -950,13 +948,15 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         to the check performed by Autoconf for AC_CHECK_FUNCS.
         """
         # Define the symbol to something else since it is defined by the
-        # includes or defines listed by the user (prefix -> {0}) or by the
-        # compiler. Then, undef the symbol to get rid of it completely.
+        # includes or defines listed by the user or by the compiler. This may
+        # include, for instance _GNU_SOURCE which must be defined before
+        # limits.h, which includes features.h
+        # Then, undef the symbol to get rid of it completely.
         head = '''
-        #define {1} meson_disable_define_of_{1}
+        #define {func} meson_disable_define_of_{func}
+        {prefix}
         #include <limits.h>
-        {0}
-        #undef {1}
+        #undef {func}
         '''
         # Override any GCC internal prototype and declare our own definition for
         # the symbol. Use char because that's unlikely to be an actual return
@@ -965,13 +965,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         #ifdef __cplusplus
         extern "C"
         #endif
-        char {1} ();
+        char {func} ();
         '''
         # The actual function call
         main = '''
-        int main ()
-        {{
-          return {1} ();
+        int main () {{
+          return {func} ();
         }}'''
         return head, main
 
@@ -982,12 +981,18 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         user for the function prototype while checking if a function exists.
         """
         # Add the 'prefix', aka defines, includes, etc that the user provides
-        head = '#include <limits.h>\n{0}\n'
+        # This may include, for instance _GNU_SOURCE which must be defined
+        # before limits.h, which includes features.h
+        head = '{prefix}\n#include <limits.h>\n'
         # We don't know what the function takes or returns, so return it as an int.
         # Just taking the address or comparing it to void is not enough because
         # compilers are smart enough to optimize it away. The resulting binary
         # is not run so we don't care what the return value is.
-        main = '\nint main() {{ void *a = (void*) &{1}; long b = (long) a; return (int) b; }}'
+        main = '''\nint main() {{
+            void *a = (void*) &{func};
+            long b = (long) a;
+            return (int) b;
+        }}'''
         return head, main
 
     def has_function(self, funcname, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
@@ -1011,13 +1016,15 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
                     return val
                 raise EnvironmentException('Cross variable {0} is not a boolean.'.format(varname))
 
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'func': funcname}
+
         # glibc defines functions that are not available on Linux as stubs that
         # fail with ENOSYS (such as e.g. lchmod). In this case we want to fail
         # instead of detecting the stub as a valid symbol.
         # We already included limits.h earlier to ensure that these are defined
         # for stub functions.
         stubs_fail = '''
-        #if defined __stub_{1} || defined __stub___{1}
+        #if defined __stub_{func} || defined __stub___{func}
         fail fail fail this function is not going to work
         #endif
         '''
@@ -1036,50 +1043,64 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             head, main = self._no_prototype_templ()
         templ = head + stubs_fail + main
 
-        if self.links(templ.format(prefix, funcname), env, extra_args, dependencies):
+        if self.links(templ.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies):
             return True
+
+        # MSVC does not have compiler __builtin_-s.
+        if self.get_id() == 'msvc':
+            return False
+
+        # Detect function as a built-in
+        #
         # Some functions like alloca() are defined as compiler built-ins which
-        # are inlined by the compiler, so look for __builtin_symbol in the libc
-        # if there's no #include-s in prefix which would've #define-d the
-        # symbol correctly. If there is a #include, just check for the symbol
-        # directly. This is needed because the above #undef fancy footwork
-        # doesn't work for builtins.
-        # This fixes instances such as #1083 where MSYS2 defines
-        # __builtin_posix_memalign in the C library but doesn't define
-        # posix_memalign in the headers to point to that builtin which results
-        # in an invalid detection.
-        if '#include' not in prefix:
-            code = 'int main() {{ {0}; }}'
-            return self.links(code.format('__builtin_' + funcname), env,
-                              extra_args, dependencies)
-        else:
-            code = '{0}\n' + stubs_fail + '\nint main() {{ {1}; }}'
-            return self.links(code.format(prefix, funcname), env, extra_args,
-                              dependencies)
+        # are inlined by the compiler and you can't take their address, so we
+        # need to look for them differently. On nice compilers like clang, we
+        # can just directly use the __has_builtin() macro.
+        fargs['no_includes'] = '#include' not in prefix
+        t = '''{prefix}
+        int main() {{
+        #ifdef __has_builtin
+            #if !__has_builtin(__builtin_{func})
+                #error "__builtin_{func} not found"
+            #endif
+        #elif ! defined({func})
+            /* Check for __builtin_{func} only if no includes were added to the
+             * prefix above, which means no definition of {func} can be found.
+             * We would always check for this, but we get false positives on
+             * MSYS2 if we do. Their toolchain is broken, but we can at least
+             * give them a workaround. */
+            #if {no_includes:d}
+                __builtin_{func};
+            #else
+                #error "No definition for __builtin_{func} found in the prefix"
+            #endif
+        #endif
+        }}'''
+        return self.links(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies)
 
     def has_members(self, typename, membernames, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
         if extra_args is None:
             extra_args = []
-        templ = '''{0}
-void bar() {{
-    {1} {2};
-    {3}
-}};
-'''
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'type': typename, 'name': 'foo'}
         # Create code that accesses all members
         members = ''
-        for m in membernames:
-            members += 'foo.{};\n'.format(m)
-        code = templ.format(prefix, typename, 'foo', members)
-        return self.compiles(code, env, extra_args, dependencies)
+        for member in membernames:
+            members += '{}.{};\n'.format(fargs['name'], member)
+        fargs['members'] = members
+        t = '''{prefix}
+        void bar() {{
+            {type} {name};
+            {members}
+        }};'''
+        return self.compiles(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies)
 
     def has_type(self, typename, prefix, env, extra_args, dependencies=None):
-        templ = '''%s
-void bar() {
-    sizeof(%s);
-};
-'''
-        return self.compiles(templ % (prefix, typename), env, extra_args, dependencies)
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'type': typename}
+        t = '''{prefix}
+        void bar() {{
+            sizeof({type});
+        }};'''
+        return self.compiles(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies)
 
     def symbols_have_underscore_prefix(self, env):
         '''
@@ -1162,6 +1183,12 @@ class CPPCompiler(CCompiler):
         code = 'class breakCCompiler;int main(int argc, char **argv) { return 0; }\n'
         return self.sanity_check_impl(work_dir, environment, 'sanitycheckcpp.cc', code)
 
+    def get_compiler_check_args(self):
+        # -fpermissive allows non-conforming code to compile which is necessary
+        # for many C++ checks. Particularly, the has_header_symbol check is
+        # too strict without this and always fails.
+        return super().get_compiler_check_args() + ['-fpermissive']
+
     def has_header_symbol(self, hname, symbol, prefix, env, extra_args=None, dependencies=None):
         # Check if it's a C-like symbol
         if super().has_header_symbol(hname, symbol, prefix, env, extra_args, dependencies):
@@ -1169,12 +1196,12 @@ class CPPCompiler(CCompiler):
         # Check if it's a class or a template
         if extra_args is None:
             extra_args = []
-        templ = '''{2}
-#include <{0}>
-using {1};
-int main () {{ return 0; }}'''
-        return self.compiles(templ.format(hname, symbol, prefix), env,
-                             extra_args, dependencies)
+        fargs = {'prefix': prefix, 'header': hname, 'symbol': symbol}
+        t = '''{prefix}
+        #include <{header}>
+        using {symbol};
+        int main () {{ return 0; }}'''
+        return self.compiles(t.format(**fargs), env, extra_args, dependencies)
 
 class ObjCCompiler(CCompiler):
     def __init__(self, exelist, version, is_cross, exe_wrap):
@@ -2058,6 +2085,11 @@ class VisualStudioCPPCompiler(VisualStudioCCompiler, CPPCompiler):
     def get_option_link_args(self, options):
         return options['cpp_winlibs'].value[:]
 
+    def get_compiler_check_args(self):
+        # Visual Studio C++ compiler doesn't support -fpermissive,
+        # so just use the plain C args.
+        return super(VisualStudioCCompiler, self).get_compiler_check_args()
+
 GCC_STANDARD = 0
 GCC_OSX = 1
 GCC_MINGW = 2
@@ -2224,12 +2256,6 @@ class GnuCPPCompiler(GnuCompiler, CPPCompiler):
             return options['cpp_winlibs'].value[:]
         return []
 
-    def get_compiler_check_args(self):
-        # -fpermissive allows non-conforming code to compile which is necessary
-        # for many C++ checks. Particularly, the has_header_symbol check is
-        # too strict without this and always fails.
-        return self.get_no_optimization_args() + ['-fpermissive']
-
 
 class GnuObjCCompiler(GnuCompiler, ObjCCompiler):
 
@@ -2255,11 +2281,6 @@ class GnuObjCPPCompiler(GnuCompiler, ObjCPPCompiler):
                           '2': default_warn_args + ['-Wextra'],
                           '3': default_warn_args + ['-Wextra', '-Wpedantic']}
 
-    def get_compiler_check_args(self):
-        # -fpermissive allows non-conforming code to compile which is necessary
-        # for many ObjC++ checks. Particularly, the has_header_symbol check is
-        # too strict without this and always fails.
-        return self.get_no_optimization_args() + ['-fpermissive']
 
 class ClangCompiler:
     def __init__(self, clang_type):
@@ -2473,7 +2494,7 @@ class IntelCCompiler(IntelCompiler, CCompiler):
         return ['-shared']
 
     def has_multi_arguments(self, args, env):
-        return super(IntelCCompiler, self).has_multi_arguments(args + ['-diag-error', '10006'], env)
+        return super().has_multi_arguments(args + ['-diag-error', '10006'], env)
 
 
 class IntelCPPCompiler(IntelCompiler, CPPCompiler):
@@ -2517,11 +2538,8 @@ class IntelCPPCompiler(IntelCompiler, CPPCompiler):
     def get_option_link_args(self, options):
         return []
 
-    def get_compiler_check_args(self):
-        return self.get_no_optimization_args()
-
     def has_multi_arguments(self, args, env):
-        return super(IntelCPPCompiler, self).has_multi_arguments(args + ['-diag-error', '10006'], env)
+        return super().has_multi_arguments(args + ['-diag-error', '10006'], env)
 
 
 class FortranCompiler(Compiler):
diff --git a/test cases/common/43 has function/meson.build b/test cases/common/43 has function/meson.build
index 323ed0093..eb30acd07 100644
--- a/test cases/common/43 has function/meson.build	
+++ b/test cases/common/43 has function/meson.build	
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ host_system = host_machine.system()
 
 # This is used in the `test_compiler_check_flags_order` unit test
 unit_test_args = '-I/tmp'
+defines_has_builtin = '''#ifndef __has_builtin
+#error "no __has_builtin"
+#endif
+'''
 compilers = [meson.get_compiler('c'), meson.get_compiler('cpp')]
 
 foreach cc : compilers
@@ -24,6 +28,11 @@ foreach cc : compilers
     assert(cc.has_function('fprintf', prefix : '#include <stdio.h>',
                            args : unit_test_args),
            '"fprintf" function not found with include (on msvc).')
+    # Compiler intrinsics
+    assert(cc.has_function('strcmp'),
+           'strcmp intrinsic should have been found on MSVC')
+    assert(cc.has_function('strcmp', prefix : '#include <string.h>'),
+           'strcmp intrinsic should have been found with #include on MSVC')
   endif
 
   if cc.has_function('hfkerhisadf', prefix : '#include<stdio.h>',
@@ -31,25 +40,42 @@ foreach cc : compilers
     error('Found non-existent function "hfkerhisadf".')
   endif
 
+  if cc.has_function('hfkerhisadf', args : unit_test_args)
+    error('Found non-existent function "hfkerhisadf".')
+  endif
+
   # With glibc on Linux lchmod is a stub that will always return an error,
   # we want to detect that and declare that the function is not available.
   # We can't check for the C library used here of course, but if it's not
   # implemented in glibc it's probably not implemented in any other 'slimmer'
   # C library variants either, so the check should be safe either way hopefully.
-  if host_system == 'linux' and cc.get_id() == 'gcc'
+  if host_system == 'linux' or host_system == 'darwin'
     assert (cc.has_function('poll', prefix : '#include <poll.h>',
                             args : unit_test_args),
             'couldn\'t detect "poll" when defined by a header')
     lchmod_prefix = '#include <sys/stat.h>\n#include <unistd.h>'
-    assert (not cc.has_function('lchmod', prefix : lchmod_prefix,
-                                args : unit_test_args),
-            '"lchmod" check should have failed')
+    if host_system == 'linux'
+      assert (not cc.has_function('lchmod', prefix : lchmod_prefix,
+                                  args : unit_test_args),
+              '"lchmod" check should have failed')
+    else
+      # macOS and *BSD have lchmod
+      assert (cc.has_function('lchmod', prefix : lchmod_prefix,
+                                  args : unit_test_args),
+              '"lchmod" check should have succeeded')
+    endif
     # Check that built-ins are found properly both with and without headers
     assert(cc.has_function('alloca', args : unit_test_args),
-           'built-in alloca must be found on Linux')
+           'built-in alloca must be found on ' + host_system)
     assert(cc.has_function('alloca', prefix : '#include <alloca.h>',
            args : unit_test_args),
-           'built-in alloca must be found on Linux with #include')
+           'built-in alloca must be found with #include')
+    if not cc.compiles(defines_has_builtin, args : unit_test_args)
+      assert(not cc.has_function('alloca',
+             prefix : '#include <alloca.h>\n#undef alloca',
+             args : unit_test_args),
+             'built-in alloca must not be found with #include and #undef')
+    endif
   endif
 
   # For some functions one needs to define _GNU_SOURCE before including the