diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 4d9c54f2d68..9e6fd465833 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -7588,11 +7588,14 @@ $as_echo "$MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET" >&6; }
     ;;
 esac
 
-# ICC needs -fp-model strict or floats behave badly
 case "$CC" in
 *icc*)
+    # ICC needs -fp-model strict or floats behave badly
     CFLAGS_NODIST="$CFLAGS_NODIST -fp-model strict"
     ;;
+*xlc*)
+    CFLAGS_NODIST="$CFLAGS_NODIST -qalias=noansi -qmaxmem=-1"
+    ;;
 esac
 
 if test "$assertions" = 'true'; then
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1bcd41e4846..d60f05251ab 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1993,11 +1993,14 @@ yes)
     ;;
 esac
 
-# ICC needs -fp-model strict or floats behave badly
 case "$CC" in
 *icc*)
+    # ICC needs -fp-model strict or floats behave badly
     CFLAGS_NODIST="$CFLAGS_NODIST -fp-model strict"
     ;;
+*xlc*)
+    CFLAGS_NODIST="$CFLAGS_NODIST -qalias=noansi -qmaxmem=-1"
+    ;;
 esac
 
 if test "$assertions" = 'true'; then