diff --git a/krb5/include/autoconf.h b/krb5/include/autoconf.h
index ed0bf8cacc1..f1cf42d8f90 100644
--- a/krb5/include/autoconf.h
+++ b/krb5/include/autoconf.h
@@ -691,7 +691,12 @@
 #define STDC_HEADERS 1
 
 /* Define to 1 if strerror_r returns char *. */
+#ifdef __GLIBC__
+/* Bootstrapping on GNU/Linux */
+#define STRERROR_R_CHAR_P 1
+#else
 /* #undef STRERROR_R_CHAR_P */
+#endif
 
 /* Define if sys_errlist is defined in errno.h */
 #define SYS_ERRLIST_DECLARED 1