diff --git a/compiler/common_compiler_test.cc b/compiler/common_compiler_test.cc
index 051cfb6..1823366 100644
--- a/compiler/common_compiler_test.cc
+++ b/compiler/common_compiler_test.cc
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@
                                               method_inliner_map_.get(),
                                               compiler_kind, instruction_set,
                                               instruction_set_features,
-                                              true, new CompilerDriver::DescriptorSet,
+                                              true, new std::set<std::string>,
                                               2, true, true, timer_.get()));
   }
   // We typically don't generate an image in unit tests, disable this optimization by default.
diff --git a/compiler/dex/frontend.cc b/compiler/dex/frontend.cc
index 4f8c1d4..c44a116 100644
--- a/compiler/dex/frontend.cc
+++ b/compiler/dex/frontend.cc
@@ -622,11 +622,10 @@
                                      uint16_t class_def_idx, uint32_t method_idx,
                                      jobject class_loader, const DexFile& dex_file,
                                      void* llvm_compilation_unit) {
-  std::string method_name = PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file);
-  VLOG(compiler) << "Compiling " << method_name << "...";
+  VLOG(compiler) << "Compiling " << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file) << "...";
   if (code_item->insns_size_in_code_units_ >= 0x10000) {
     LOG(INFO) << "Method size exceeds compiler limits: " << code_item->insns_size_in_code_units_
-              << " in " << method_name;
+              << " in " << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file);
     return NULL;
   }
 
@@ -658,7 +657,7 @@
   cu.compiler_flip_match = false;
   bool use_match = !cu.compiler_method_match.empty();
   bool match = use_match && (cu.compiler_flip_match ^
-      (method_name.find(cu.compiler_method_match) != std::string::npos));
+      (PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file).find(cu.compiler_method_match) != std::string::npos));
   if (!use_match || match) {
     cu.disable_opt = kCompilerOptimizerDisableFlags;
     cu.enable_debug = kCompilerDebugFlags;
@@ -669,7 +668,7 @@
   if (gVerboseMethods.size() != 0) {
     cu.verbose = false;
     for (size_t i = 0; i < gVerboseMethods.size(); ++i) {
-      if (method_name.find(gVerboseMethods[i])
+      if (PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file).find(gVerboseMethods[i])
           != std::string::npos) {
         cu.verbose = true;
         break;
@@ -711,7 +710,8 @@
                               class_loader, dex_file);
 
   if (!CanCompileMethod(method_idx, dex_file, cu)) {
-    VLOG(compiler)  << cu.instruction_set << ": Cannot compile method : " << method_name;
+    VLOG(compiler)  << cu.instruction_set << ": Cannot compile method : "
+        << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file);
     return nullptr;
   }
 
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@
   std::string skip_message;
   if (cu.mir_graph->SkipCompilation(&skip_message)) {
     VLOG(compiler) << cu.instruction_set << ": Skipping method : "
-                   << method_name << "  Reason = " << skip_message;
+                   << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file) << "  Reason = " << skip_message;
     return nullptr;
   }
 
@@ -730,7 +730,7 @@
   /* For non-leaf methods check if we should skip compilation when the profiler is enabled. */
   if (cu.compiler_driver->ProfilePresent()
       && !cu.mir_graph->MethodIsLeaf()
-      && cu.mir_graph->SkipCompilationByName(method_name)) {
+      && cu.mir_graph->SkipCompilationByName(PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file))) {
     return nullptr;
   }
 
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@
   if (cu.enable_debug & (1 << kDebugShowMemoryUsage)) {
     if (cu.arena_stack.PeakBytesAllocated() > 1 * 1024 * 1024) {
       MemStats stack_stats(cu.arena_stack.GetPeakStats());
-      LOG(INFO) << method_name << " " << Dumpable<MemStats>(stack_stats);
+      LOG(INFO) << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file) << " " << Dumpable<MemStats>(stack_stats);
     }
   }
   cu.arena_stack.Reset();
@@ -757,7 +757,8 @@
   CompiledMethod* result = NULL;
 
   if (cu.mir_graph->PuntToInterpreter()) {
-    VLOG(compiler) << cu.instruction_set << ": Punted method to interpreter: " << method_name;
+    VLOG(compiler) << cu.instruction_set << ": Punted method to interpreter: "
+        << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file);
     return nullptr;
   }
 
@@ -768,21 +769,21 @@
   cu.NewTimingSplit("Cleanup");
 
   if (result) {
-    VLOG(compiler) << cu.instruction_set << ": Compiled " << method_name;
+    VLOG(compiler) << cu.instruction_set << ": Compiled " << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file);
   } else {
-    VLOG(compiler) << cu.instruction_set << ": Deferred " << method_name;
+    VLOG(compiler) << cu.instruction_set << ": Deferred " << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file);
   }
 
   if (cu.enable_debug & (1 << kDebugShowMemoryUsage)) {
     if (cu.arena.BytesAllocated() > (1 * 1024 *1024)) {
       MemStats mem_stats(cu.arena.GetMemStats());
-      LOG(INFO) << method_name << " " << Dumpable<MemStats>(mem_stats);
+      LOG(INFO) << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file) << " " << Dumpable<MemStats>(mem_stats);
     }
   }
 
   if (cu.enable_debug & (1 << kDebugShowSummaryMemoryUsage)) {
     LOG(INFO) << "MEMINFO " << cu.arena.BytesAllocated() << " " << cu.mir_graph->GetNumBlocks()
-              << " " << method_name;
+              << " " << PrettyMethod(method_idx, dex_file);
   }
 
   cu.EndTiming();
diff --git a/compiler/dex/verification_results.cc b/compiler/dex/verification_results.cc
index a7f67e7..a8e6b3c 100644
--- a/compiler/dex/verification_results.cc
+++ b/compiler/dex/verification_results.cc
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@
 namespace art {
 
 VerificationResults::VerificationResults(const CompilerOptions* compiler_options)
-    : verified_methods_lock_("compiler verified methods lock"),
+    : compiler_options_(compiler_options),
+      verified_methods_lock_("compiler verified methods lock"),
       verified_methods_(),
       rejected_classes_lock_("compiler rejected classes lock"),
       rejected_classes_() {
@@ -106,6 +107,9 @@
     return true;
   }
 #endif
+  if (!compiler_options_->IsCompilationEnabled()) {
+    return false;
+  }
   // Don't compile class initializers, ever.
   if (((access_flags & kAccConstructor) != 0) && ((access_flags & kAccStatic) != 0)) {
     return false;
diff --git a/compiler/dex/verification_results.h b/compiler/dex/verification_results.h
index 7fdf767..0e7923f 100644
--- a/compiler/dex/verification_results.h
+++ b/compiler/dex/verification_results.h
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@
                                    const uint32_t access_flags);
 
   private:
+    const CompilerOptions* const compiler_options_;
+
     // Verified methods.
     typedef SafeMap<MethodReference, const VerifiedMethod*,
         MethodReferenceComparator> VerifiedMethodMap;
diff --git a/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.cc b/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.cc
index 1233a0d..0b217a1 100644
--- a/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.cc
+++ b/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.cc
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@
                                Compiler::Kind compiler_kind,
                                InstructionSet instruction_set,
                                InstructionSetFeatures instruction_set_features,
-                               bool image, DescriptorSet* image_classes, size_t thread_count,
+                               bool image, std::set<std::string>* image_classes, size_t thread_count,
                                bool dump_stats, bool dump_passes, CumulativeLogger* timer,
                                std::string profile_file)
     : profile_present_(false), compiler_options_(compiler_options),
@@ -678,9 +678,9 @@
 
 static bool RecordImageClassesVisitor(mirror::Class* klass, void* arg)
     SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED(Locks::mutator_lock_) {
-  CompilerDriver::DescriptorSet* image_classes =
-      reinterpret_cast<CompilerDriver::DescriptorSet*>(arg);
-  image_classes->insert(klass->GetDescriptor());
+  std::set<std::string>* image_classes = reinterpret_cast<std::set<std::string>*>(arg);
+  std::string temp;
+  image_classes->insert(klass->GetDescriptor(&temp));
   return true;
 }
 
@@ -750,22 +750,20 @@
   CHECK_NE(image_classes_->size(), 0U);
 }
 
-static void MaybeAddToImageClasses(Handle<mirror::Class> c,
-                                   CompilerDriver::DescriptorSet* image_classes)
+static void MaybeAddToImageClasses(Handle<mirror::Class> c, std::set<std::string>* image_classes)
     SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED(Locks::mutator_lock_) {
   Thread* self = Thread::Current();
   StackHandleScope<1> hs(self);
   // Make a copy of the handle so that we don't clobber it doing Assign.
   Handle<mirror::Class> klass(hs.NewHandle(c.Get()));
+  std::string temp;
   while (!klass->IsObjectClass()) {
-    std::string descriptor(klass->GetDescriptor());
-    std::pair<CompilerDriver::DescriptorSet::iterator, bool> result =
-        image_classes->insert(descriptor);
-    if (result.second) {
-        VLOG(compiler) << "Adding " << descriptor << " to image classes";
-    } else {
-      return;
+    const char* descriptor = klass->GetDescriptor(&temp);
+    std::pair<std::set<std::string>::iterator, bool> result = image_classes->insert(descriptor);
+    if (!result.second) {  // Previously inserted.
+      break;
     }
+    VLOG(compiler) << "Adding " << descriptor << " to image classes";
     for (size_t i = 0; i < klass->NumDirectInterfaces(); ++i) {
       StackHandleScope<1> hs(self);
       MaybeAddToImageClasses(hs.NewHandle(mirror::Class::GetDirectInterface(self, klass, i)),
@@ -1550,13 +1548,23 @@
     SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED(Locks::mutator_lock_) {
   CHECK(self->IsExceptionPending());
   mirror::Throwable* exception = self->GetException(nullptr);
-  std::string descriptor = exception->GetClass()->GetDescriptor();
-      if (descriptor != "Ljava/lang/IllegalAccessError;" &&
-          descriptor != "Ljava/lang/IncompatibleClassChangeError;" &&
-          descriptor != "Ljava/lang/InstantiationError;" &&
-          descriptor != "Ljava/lang/NoClassDefFoundError;" &&
-          descriptor != "Ljava/lang/NoSuchFieldError;" &&
-          descriptor != "Ljava/lang/NoSuchMethodError;") {
+  std::string temp;
+  const char* descriptor = exception->GetClass()->GetDescriptor(&temp);
+  const char* expected_exceptions[] = {
+      "Ljava/lang/IllegalAccessError;",
+      "Ljava/lang/IncompatibleClassChangeError;",
+      "Ljava/lang/InstantiationError;",
+      "Ljava/lang/NoClassDefFoundError;",
+      "Ljava/lang/NoSuchFieldError;",
+      "Ljava/lang/NoSuchMethodError;"
+  };
+  bool found = false;
+  for (size_t i = 0; (found == false) && (i < arraysize(expected_exceptions)); ++i) {
+    if (strcmp(descriptor, expected_exceptions[i]) == 0) {
+      found = true;
+    }
+  }
+  if (!found) {
     LOG(FATAL) << "Unexpected exeption " << exception->Dump();
   }
   self->ClearException();
@@ -1904,12 +1912,25 @@
 
 void CompilerDriver::CompileClass(const ParallelCompilationManager* manager, size_t class_def_index) {
   ATRACE_CALL();
-  jobject jclass_loader = manager->GetClassLoader();
   const DexFile& dex_file = *manager->GetDexFile();
   const DexFile::ClassDef& class_def = dex_file.GetClassDef(class_def_index);
   ClassLinker* class_linker = manager->GetClassLinker();
-  if (SkipClass(class_linker, jclass_loader, dex_file, manager->GetDexFiles(), class_def)) {
-    return;
+  jobject jclass_loader = manager->GetClassLoader();
+  {
+    // Use a scoped object access to perform to the quick SkipClass check.
+    const char* descriptor = dex_file.GetClassDescriptor(class_def);
+    ScopedObjectAccess soa(Thread::Current());
+    StackHandleScope<3> hs(soa.Self());
+    Handle<mirror::ClassLoader> class_loader(
+        hs.NewHandle(soa.Decode<mirror::ClassLoader*>(jclass_loader)));
+    Handle<mirror::Class> klass(
+        hs.NewHandle(class_linker->FindClass(soa.Self(), descriptor, class_loader)));
+    if (klass.Get() == nullptr) {
+      CHECK(soa.Self()->IsExceptionPending());
+      soa.Self()->ClearException();
+    } else if (SkipClass(jclass_loader, dex_file, klass.Get())) {
+      return;
+    }
   }
   ClassReference ref(&dex_file, class_def_index);
   // Skip compiling classes with generic verifier failures since they will still fail at runtime
diff --git a/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.h b/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.h
index 2a5cdb9..233c4f8 100644
--- a/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.h
+++ b/compiler/driver/compiler_driver.h
@@ -92,8 +92,6 @@
 
 class CompilerDriver {
  public:
-  typedef std::set<std::string> DescriptorSet;
-
   // Create a compiler targeting the requested "instruction_set".
   // "image" should be true if image specific optimizations should be
   // enabled.  "image_classes" lets the compiler know what classes it
@@ -105,7 +103,7 @@
                           Compiler::Kind compiler_kind,
                           InstructionSet instruction_set,
                           InstructionSetFeatures instruction_set_features,
-                          bool image, DescriptorSet* image_classes,
+                          bool image, std::set<std::string>* image_classes,
                           size_t thread_count, bool dump_stats, bool dump_passes,
                           CumulativeLogger* timer, std::string profile_file = "");
 
@@ -152,7 +150,7 @@
     return image_;
   }
 
-  DescriptorSet* GetImageClasses() const {
+  const std::set<std::string>* GetImageClasses() const {
     return image_classes_.get();
   }
 
@@ -729,7 +727,7 @@
   // If image_ is true, specifies the classes that will be included in
   // the image. Note if image_classes_ is NULL, all classes are
   // included in the image.
-  std::unique_ptr<DescriptorSet> image_classes_;
+  std::unique_ptr<std::set<std::string>> image_classes_;
 
   size_t thread_count_;
   uint64_t start_ns_;
diff --git a/compiler/image_test.cc b/compiler/image_test.cc
index 6b23345..3d119bb 100644
--- a/compiler/image_test.cc
+++ b/compiler/image_test.cc
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
   }
 
   ASSERT_TRUE(compiler_driver_->GetImageClasses() != NULL);
-  CompilerDriver::DescriptorSet image_classes(*compiler_driver_->GetImageClasses());
+  std::set<std::string> image_classes(*compiler_driver_->GetImageClasses());
 
   // Need to delete the compiler since it has worker threads which are attached to runtime.
   compiler_driver_.reset();
diff --git a/compiler/image_writer.cc b/compiler/image_writer.cc
index d102bbc..ba7e13f 100644
--- a/compiler/image_writer.cc
+++ b/compiler/image_writer.cc
@@ -294,7 +294,8 @@
 }
 
 bool ImageWriter::IsImageClass(Class* klass) {
-  return compiler_driver_.IsImageClass(klass->GetDescriptor().c_str());
+  std::string temp;
+  return compiler_driver_.IsImageClass(klass->GetDescriptor(&temp));
 }
 
 struct NonImageClasses {
@@ -351,7 +352,8 @@
 bool ImageWriter::NonImageClassesVisitor(Class* klass, void* arg) {
   NonImageClasses* context = reinterpret_cast<NonImageClasses*>(arg);
   if (!context->image_writer->IsImageClass(klass)) {
-    context->non_image_classes->insert(klass->GetDescriptor());
+    std::string temp;
+    context->non_image_classes->insert(klass->GetDescriptor(&temp));
   }
   return true;
 }
@@ -371,14 +373,15 @@
     Class* klass = obj->AsClass();
     if (!image_writer->IsImageClass(klass)) {
       image_writer->DumpImageClasses();
-      CHECK(image_writer->IsImageClass(klass)) << klass->GetDescriptor()
+      std::string temp;
+      CHECK(image_writer->IsImageClass(klass)) << klass->GetDescriptor(&temp)
                                                << " " << PrettyDescriptor(klass);
     }
   }
 }
 
 void ImageWriter::DumpImageClasses() {
-  CompilerDriver::DescriptorSet* image_classes = compiler_driver_.GetImageClasses();
+  const std::set<std::string>* image_classes = compiler_driver_.GetImageClasses();
   CHECK(image_classes != NULL);
   for (const std::string& image_class : *image_classes) {
     LOG(INFO) << " " << image_class;