diff --git a/Lib/ctypes/util.py b/Lib/ctypes/util.py
index 1bd2d70fd37..58b0d732f8d 100644
--- a/Lib/ctypes/util.py
+++ b/Lib/ctypes/util.py
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ def _findSoname_ldconfig(name):
             # XXX assuming GLIBC's ldconfig (with option -p)
             expr = r'(\S+)\s+\((%s(?:, OS ABI:[^\)]*)?)\)[^/]*(/[^\(\)\s]*lib%s\.[^\(\)\s]*)' \
                    % (abi_type, re.escape(name))
-            f = os.popen('/sbin/ldconfig -p 2>/dev/null')
+            f = os.popen('LANG=C /sbin/ldconfig -p 2>/dev/null')
             try:
                 data = f.read()
             finally:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 71db3ca41a3..29aae7993ef 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #7356: ctypes.util: Make parsing of ldconfig output independent of
+  the locale.
+
 
 What's New in Python 3.1.2 release candidate 1?
 ===============================================