diff --git a/src/base/remote_gdb.hh b/src/base/remote_gdb.hh
--- a/src/base/remote_gdb.hh
+++ b/src/base/remote_gdb.hh
@@ -217,6 +217,8 @@
     PCEventQueue *getPcEventQueue();
 
   protected:
+    virtual bool checkBpLen(size_t len);
+
     class HardBreakpoint : public PCEvent
     {
       private:
# Node ID 87cda70be35de21ce58722240c8dcb335e85becc
# Parent  140bd3e1bbc738e6f871224adb08deb47e4b50b0
diff --git a/src/base/remote_gdb.cc b/src/base/remote_gdb.cc
--- a/src/base/remote_gdb.cc
+++ b/src/base/remote_gdb.cc
@@ -534,6 +534,12 @@
     return &system->pcEventQueue;
 }
 
+bool
+BaseRemoteGDB::checkBpLen(size_t len)
+{
+    return len == sizeof(MachInst);
+}
+
 BaseRemoteGDB::HardBreakpoint::HardBreakpoint(BaseRemoteGDB *_gdb, Addr pc)
     : PCEvent(_gdb->getPcEventQueue(), "HardBreakpoint Event", pc),
       gdb(_gdb), refcount(0)
@@ -553,7 +559,7 @@
 bool
 BaseRemoteGDB::insertSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
 {
-    if (len != sizeof(TheISA::MachInst))
+    if (!checkBpLen(len))
         panic("invalid length\n");
 
     return insertHardBreak(addr, len);
@@ -562,7 +568,7 @@
 bool
 BaseRemoteGDB::removeSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
 {
-    if (len != sizeof(MachInst))
+    if (!checkBpLen(len))
         panic("invalid length\n");
 
     return removeHardBreak(addr, len);
@@ -571,7 +577,7 @@
 bool
 BaseRemoteGDB::insertHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
 {
-    if (len != sizeof(MachInst))
+    if (!checkBpLen(len))
         panic("invalid length\n");
 
     DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "inserting hardware breakpoint at %#x\n", addr);
@@ -588,7 +594,7 @@
 bool
 BaseRemoteGDB::removeHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
 {
-    if (len != sizeof(MachInst))
+    if (!checkBpLen(len))
         panic("invalid length\n");
 
     DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "removing hardware breakpoint at %#x\n", addr);