diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 132cea8fef4..555422b9e9f 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ Library
   makeunicodedata.py and regenerated the Unicode database (This fixes
   u'\u1d79'.lower() == '\x00').
 
+Build
+-----
+
+- Issue #5726: Make Modules/ld_so_aix return the actual exit code of the
+  linker, rather than always exit successfully. Patch by Floris Bruynooghe.
+
 Tests
 -----
 
diff --git a/Modules/ld_so_aix b/Modules/ld_so_aix
index 76afa6e4851..6b83823d19e 100755
--- a/Modules/ld_so_aix
+++ b/Modules/ld_so_aix
@@ -181,7 +181,10 @@ $makexp $expfile "$objfile" $objs
 # Perform the link.
 #echo $CC $CCOPT $CCARGS
 $CC $CCOPT $CCARGS
+retval=$?
 
 # Delete the module's export list file.
 # Comment this line if you need it.
 rm -f $expfile
+
+exit $retval