diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
index 00f8a6b9ae7..24138293692 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ class build_ext (Command):
         # for extensions under Cygwin and AtheOS Python's library directory must be
         # appended to library_dirs
         if sys.platform[:6] == 'cygwin' or sys.platform[:6] == 'atheos' or \
-               (sys.platform.startswith('linux') and
+               ((sys.platform.startswith('linux') or sys.platform.startswith('gnu')) and
                 sysconfig.get_config_var('Py_ENABLE_SHARED')):
             if string.find(sys.executable, sys.exec_prefix) != -1:
                 # building third party extensions
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index f77b7ae81a8..35960e01550 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -214,6 +214,8 @@ Build
 - Patch #1576954: Update VC6 build directory; remove redundant
   files in VC7.
 
+- Fix build failure on kfreebsd and on the hurd.
+
 
 Windows
 -------