diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 14fa793f7d7..04685304573 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ Extension Modules
 Library
 -------
 
+Build
+-----
+
+- Issue #2544: On HP-UX systems, use 'gcc -shared' for linking when
+  gcc is used as compiler.
 
 What's New in Python 3.0a4?
 ===========================
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 37d97260df1..0e9e7bbabdd 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# From configure.in Revision: 61848 .
+# From configure.in Revision: 62003 .
 # Guess values for system-dependent variables and create Makefiles.
 # Generated by GNU Autoconf 2.61 for python 3.0.
 #
@@ -12846,7 +12846,11 @@ then
 		then LDSHARED='$(CC) -shared'
 		else LDSHARED='$(CC) -G';
 		fi ;;
-	hp*|HP*) LDSHARED="ld -b";;
+	hp*|HP*)
+		if test "$GCC" = "yes"
+		then LDSHARED='$(CC) -shared'
+		else LDSHARED='ld -b';
+		fi ;;
 	OSF*) LDSHARED="ld -shared -expect_unresolved \"*\"";;
 	Darwin/1.3*)
 		LDSHARED='$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -bundle'
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index dd96bbeb5ee..a1c044f3a68 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -1468,7 +1468,11 @@ then
 		then LDSHARED='$(CC) -shared'
 		else LDSHARED='$(CC) -G';
 		fi ;;
-	hp*|HP*) LDSHARED="ld -b";;
+	hp*|HP*)
+		if test "$GCC" = "yes"
+		then LDSHARED='$(CC) -shared'
+		else LDSHARED='ld -b';
+		fi ;;
 	OSF*) LDSHARED="ld -shared -expect_unresolved \"*\"";;
 	Darwin/1.3*)
 		LDSHARED='$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -bundle'