diff --git a/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py b/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py
index 48f3fe4d599..8847e317436 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py
@@ -359,6 +359,11 @@ def parse_makefile(fn, g=None):
 
     fp.close()
 
+    # strip spurious spaces
+    for k, v in done.items():
+        if isinstance(v, str):
+            done[k] = v.strip()
+
     # save the results in the global dictionary
     g.update(done)
     return g
diff --git a/Lib/sysconfig.py b/Lib/sysconfig.py
index 730718a743b..19847c9dfc1 100644
--- a/Lib/sysconfig.py
+++ b/Lib/sysconfig.py
@@ -296,6 +296,11 @@ def _parse_makefile(filename, vars=None):
                 # bogus variable reference; just drop it since we can't deal
                 variables.remove(name)
 
+    # strip spurious spaces
+    for k, v in done.items():
+        if isinstance(v, str):
+            done[k] = v.strip()
+
     # save the results in the global dictionary
     vars.update(done)
     return vars
diff --git a/Makefile.pre.in b/Makefile.pre.in
index 8e8727daa63..ba66c1a5cc0 100644
--- a/Makefile.pre.in
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in
@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ LIBP=		$(LIBDIR)/python$(VERSION)
 
 # Symbols used for using shared libraries
 SO=		@SO@
-LDSHARED=	@LDSHARED@
-BLDSHARED=	@BLDSHARED@
+LDSHARED=	@LDSHARED@ $(PY_LDFLAGS)
+BLDSHARED=	@BLDSHARED@ $(PY_LDFLAGS)
 LDCXXSHARED=	@LDCXXSHARED@
 DESTSHARED=	$(BINLIBDEST)/lib-dynload
 
@@ -429,8 +429,8 @@ platform: $(BUILDPYTHON)
 # Build the shared modules
 sharedmods: $(BUILDPYTHON)
 	@case $$MAKEFLAGS in \
-	*s*) $(RUNSHARED) CC='$(CC)' LDSHARED='$(BLDSHARED)' LDFLAGS='$(PY_LDFLAGS)' OPT='$(OPT)' ./$(BUILDPYTHON) -E $(srcdir)/setup.py -q build;; \
-	*) $(RUNSHARED) CC='$(CC)' LDSHARED='$(BLDSHARED)' LDFLAGS='$(PY_LDFLAGS)' OPT='$(OPT)' ./$(BUILDPYTHON) -E $(srcdir)/setup.py build;; \
+	*s*) $(RUNSHARED) CC='$(CC)' LDSHARED='$(BLDSHARED)' OPT='$(OPT)' ./$(BUILDPYTHON) -E $(srcdir)/setup.py -q build;; \
+	*) $(RUNSHARED) CC='$(CC)' LDSHARED='$(BLDSHARED)' OPT='$(OPT)' ./$(BUILDPYTHON) -E $(srcdir)/setup.py build;; \
 	esac
 
 # Build static library
@@ -447,10 +447,10 @@ $(LIBRARY): $(LIBRARY_OBJS)
 
 libpython$(VERSION).so: $(LIBRARY_OBJS)
 	if test $(INSTSONAME) != $(LDLIBRARY); then \
-		$(BLDSHARED) $(PY_LDFLAGS) -Wl,-h$(INSTSONAME) -o $(INSTSONAME) $(LIBRARY_OBJS) $(MODLIBS) $(SHLIBS) $(LIBC) $(LIBM) $(LDLAST); \
+		$(BLDSHARED) -Wl,-h$(INSTSONAME) -o $(INSTSONAME) $(LIBRARY_OBJS) $(MODLIBS) $(SHLIBS) $(LIBC) $(LIBM) $(LDLAST); \
 		$(LN) -f $(INSTSONAME) $@; \
 	else \
-		$(BLDSHARED) $(PY_LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(LIBRARY_OBJS) $(MODLIBS) $(SHLIBS) $(LIBC) $(LIBM) $(LDLAST); \
+		$(BLDSHARED) -o $@ $(LIBRARY_OBJS) $(MODLIBS) $(SHLIBS) $(LIBC) $(LIBM) $(LDLAST); \
 	fi
 
 libpython$(VERSION).dylib: $(LIBRARY_OBJS)
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ libpython$(VERSION).dylib: $(LIBRARY_OBJS)
 
 
 libpython$(VERSION).sl: $(LIBRARY_OBJS)
-	$(LDSHARED) $(PY_LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(LIBRARY_OBJS) $(MODLIBS) $(SHLIBS) $(LIBC) $(LIBM) $(LDLAST)
+	$(LDSHARED) -o $@ $(LIBRARY_OBJS) $(MODLIBS) $(SHLIBS) $(LIBC) $(LIBM) $(LDLAST)
 
 # Copy up the gdb python hooks into a position where they can be automatically
 # loaded by gdb during Lib/test/test_gdb.py
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ $(PYTHONFRAMEWORKDIR)/Versions/$(VERSION)/$(PYTHONFRAMEWORK): \
 # for a shared core library; otherwise, this rule is a noop.
 $(DLLLIBRARY) libpython$(VERSION).dll.a: $(LIBRARY_OBJS)
 	if test -n "$(DLLLIBRARY)"; then \
-		$(LDSHARED) $(PY_LDFLAGS) -Wl,--out-implib=$@ -o $(DLLLIBRARY) $^ \
+		$(LDSHARED) -Wl,--out-implib=$@ -o $(DLLLIBRARY) $^ \
 			$(LIBS) $(MODLIBS) $(SYSLIBS) $(LDLAST); \
 	else true; \
 	fi
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index e90cb370d97..070710cbd52 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #9437: Fix building C extensions with non-default LDFLAGS.
+
 - Issue #4661: email can now parse bytes input and generate either converted
   7bit output or bytes output.  Email version bumped to 5.1.0.