diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2021-01-12-10-06-50.bpo-42874.XKK61g.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2021-01-12-10-06-50.bpo-42874.XKK61g.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c3ef7b34bc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2021-01-12-10-06-50.bpo-42874.XKK61g.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Removed the grep -q and -E flags in the tzpath validation section of the
+configure script to better accomodate users of some platforms (specifically
+Solaris 10).
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5691c27cf66..1d81c00c635 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -10252,7 +10252,7 @@ validate_tzpath() {
     fi
 
     # Bad paths are those that don't start with /
-        if ( echo $1 | grep -qE '(^|:)([^/]|$)' ); then
+        if ( echo $1 | grep '\(^\|:\)\([^/]\|$\)' > /dev/null); then
         as_fn_error $? "--with-tzpath must contain only absolute paths, not $1" "$LINENO" 5
         return 1;
     fi
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 990d6bfdd81..08c462ac9f6 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2980,7 +2980,7 @@ validate_tzpath() {
 
     # Bad paths are those that don't start with /
     dnl quadrigraphs "@<:@" and "@:>@" produce "[" and "]" in the output
-    if ( echo $1 | grep -qE '(^|:)(@<:@^/@:>@|$)' ); then
+    if ( echo $1 | grep '\(^\|:\)\(@<:@^/@:>@\|$\)' > /dev/null); then
         AC_MSG_ERROR([--with-tzpath must contain only absolute paths, not $1])
         return 1;
     fi