diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8936c0d17..ccc1db02b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,23 +1,25 @@
-*.py[cod]
-*.egg
-*.egg-info
-/MANIFEST
 /.idea/
-.tox/
 /build/
 /dist/
 /output/
 .*cache/
-.eggs/
 *.directory
 *.prg
 *.asm
 *.labels.txt
-__pycache__/
-parser.out
-parsetab.py
-.pytest_cache/
+*.vice-mon-list
 docs/build
 out/
 **/*.interp
 **/*.tokens
+
+*.py[cod]
+*.egg
+*.egg-info
+.eggs/
+/MANIFEST
+.tox/
+__pycache__/
+parser.out
+parsetab.py
+.pytest_cache/
diff --git a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt
index a9fe854cd..71d6d90ed 100644
--- a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt
+++ b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt
@@ -769,6 +769,8 @@ private class StatementTranslator(private val prog: IntermediateProgram,
             "clear_carry" -> prog.instr(Opcode.CLC)
             "set_irqd" -> prog.instr(Opcode.SEI)
             "clear_irqd" -> prog.instr(Opcode.CLI)
+            "rsave" -> prog.instr(Opcode.RSAVE)
+            "rrestore" -> prog.instr(Opcode.RRESTORE)
             else -> createSyscall(funcname)  // call builtin function
         }
     }
diff --git a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/intermediate/Opcode.kt b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/intermediate/Opcode.kt
index c6c106052..a77ce89c1 100644
--- a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/intermediate/Opcode.kt
+++ b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/intermediate/Opcode.kt
@@ -221,6 +221,8 @@ enum class Opcode {
     CLC,        // clear carry status flag  NOTE: is mostly fake, carry flag is not affected by any numeric operations
     SEI,        // set irq-disable status flag
     CLI,        // clear irq-disable status flag
+    RSAVE,      // save all internal registers and status flags
+    RRESTORE,   // restore all internal registers and status flags
     NOP,        // do nothing
     BREAKPOINT, // breakpoint
     TERMINATE,  // end the program
diff --git a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/target/c64/AsmGen.kt b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/target/c64/AsmGen.kt
index 76de0e79e..8b59979a6 100644
--- a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/target/c64/AsmGen.kt
+++ b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/target/c64/AsmGen.kt
@@ -108,13 +108,15 @@ class AsmGen(val options: CompilationOptions) {
         when(ins.opcode) {
             Opcode.LINE -> out("\t; src line: ${ins.callLabel}")
             Opcode.NOP -> out("\tnop")      // shouldn't be present anymore though
+            Opcode.TERMINATE -> out("\tbrk\t; terminate!")
             Opcode.SEC -> out("\tsec")
             Opcode.CLC -> out("\tclc")
             Opcode.SEI -> out("\tsei")
             Opcode.CLI -> out("\tcli")
-            Opcode.TERMINATE -> out("\tbrk\t; terminate!")
             Opcode.B2UB -> {}       // is a no-op, just carry on with the byte as-is
             Opcode.UB2B -> {}       // is a no-op, just carry on with the byte as-is
+            Opcode.RSAVE -> out("\tphp\n\tpha\n\ttxa\n\tpha\n\ttya\n\tpha")
+            Opcode.RRESTORE -> out("\tpla\n\ttay\n\tpla\n\ttax\n\tpla\n\tplp")
             Opcode.PUSH_BYTE -> {
                 // check if we load a register (X, Y) with constant value
                 val nextIns = block.getIns(insIdx+1)
diff --git a/compiler/src/prog8/functions/BuiltinFunctions.kt b/compiler/src/prog8/functions/BuiltinFunctions.kt
index 580bb6697..a71d3ace8 100644
--- a/compiler/src/prog8/functions/BuiltinFunctions.kt
+++ b/compiler/src/prog8/functions/BuiltinFunctions.kt
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ val BuiltinFunctions = mapOf(
     "rnd"         to FunctionSignature(true, emptyList(), DataType.UBYTE),
     "rndw"        to FunctionSignature(true, emptyList(), DataType.UWORD),
     "rndf"        to FunctionSignature(true, emptyList(), DataType.FLOAT),
+    "rsave"       to FunctionSignature(false, emptyList(), null),
+    "rrestore"    to FunctionSignature(false, emptyList(), null),
     "set_carry"   to FunctionSignature(false, emptyList(), null),
     "clear_carry" to FunctionSignature(false, emptyList(), null),
     "set_irqd"    to FunctionSignature(false, emptyList(), null),
diff --git a/compiler/src/prog8/stackvm/StackVm.kt b/compiler/src/prog8/stackvm/StackVm.kt
index 41d7e4a9a..5daf4e6ef 100644
--- a/compiler/src/prog8/stackvm/StackVm.kt
+++ b/compiler/src/prog8/stackvm/StackVm.kt
@@ -1349,6 +1349,20 @@ class StackVm(private var traceOutputFile: String?) {
                     array.doubleArray!![index] = value.numericValue().toDouble()
                 }
             }
+            Opcode.RSAVE -> {
+                evalstack.push(Value(DataType.UBYTE, if(P_irqd) 1 else 0))
+                evalstack.push(Value(DataType.UBYTE, if(P_carry) 1 else 0))
+                evalstack.push(variables["X"])
+                evalstack.push(variables["Y"])
+                evalstack.push(variables["A"])
+            }
+            Opcode.RRESTORE -> {
+                variables["A"] = evalstack.pop()
+                variables["X"] = evalstack.pop()
+                variables["Y"] = evalstack.pop()
+                P_carry = evalstack.pop().asBooleanValue
+                P_irqd = evalstack.pop().asBooleanValue
+            }
             //else -> throw VmExecutionException("unimplemented opcode: ${ins.opcode}")
         }
 
diff --git a/docs/source/programming.rst b/docs/source/programming.rst
index 08c7f8c3b..fbb95e934 100644
--- a/docs/source/programming.rst
+++ b/docs/source/programming.rst
@@ -649,3 +649,11 @@ set_carry()  /  clear_carry()
 set_irqd()  / clear_irqd()
     Set (or clear) the CPU status register Interrupt Disable flag. No result value.
     (translated into ``SEI`` or ``CLI`` cpu instruction)
+
+rsave()
+    Saves the CPU registers and the status flags.
+    You can now more or less 'safely' use the registers directly, until you
+    restore them again so the generated code can carry on normally.
+
+rrestore()
+    Restores the CPU registers and the status flags from previously saved values.