diff --git a/Include/pymacro.h b/Include/pymacro.h
index 52e8ee3a289..5bb4b3d55ac 100644
--- a/Include/pymacro.h
+++ b/Include/pymacro.h
@@ -29,8 +29,11 @@
    parameters. With correct compiler support, such usage will cause a build
    error (see Py_BUILD_ASSERT_EXPR).
 
-   Written by Rusty Russell, public domain, http://ccodearchive.net/ */
-#if (defined(__GNUC__) && !defined(__STRICT_ANSI__))
+   Written by Rusty Russell, public domain, http://ccodearchive.net/
+
+   Requires at GCC 3.1+ */
+#if (defined(__GNUC__) && !defined(__STRICT_ANSI__) && \
+    ((__GNUC__ == 3) && (__GNU_MINOR__ >= 1)) || (__GNUC__ >= 4))
 /* Two gcc extensions.
    &a[0] degrades to a pointer: a different type from an array */
 #define Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(array) \
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index cd1e80db6ce..14e021717b2 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ What's New in Python 3.4.0 Alpha 1?
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #16881: Fix Py_ARRAY_LENGTH macro for GCC < 3.1.
+
 - Issue #16856: Fix a segmentation fault from calling repr() on a dict with
   a key whose repr raise an exception.