diff --git a/compat/Makefile.in b/compat/Makefile.in
index 7e17c4842..4b15c3c18 100644
--- a/compat/Makefile.in
+++ b/compat/Makefile.in
@@ -55,11 +55,22 @@ all: libreplace.la
 .SUFFIXES: .o .c .h .lo
 
 .c.lo:
-	$(LIBTOOL) --mode=compile $(CC) -c -o $@ $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $(DEFS) $(OPTIONS) $<
+	$(LIBTOOL) --mode=compile $(CC) -c -o $@ $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $(DEFS) $<
 
 libreplace.la: $(LTLIBOBJS)
 	$(LIBTOOL) --mode=link $(CC) -o $@ $(LTLIBOBJS) -no-install
 
+$(LIBOBJDIR)siglist.c: $(LIBOBJDIR)mksiglist
+	$(LIBOBJDIR)mksiglist > $@
+
+$(LIBOBJDIR)mksiglist: $(LIBOBJDIR)mksiglist.c $(LIBOBJDIR)mksiglist.h $(incdir)/compat.h $(top_builddir)/config.h
+	$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $(DEFS) $(LIBOBJDIR)mksiglist.c -o $@
+
+@DEV@$(LIBOBJDIR)mksiglist.h: $(LIBOBJDIR)siglist.in
+@DEV@	awk '/^    [A-Z]/ {printf("#ifdef SIG%s\n    if (my_sys_siglist[SIG%s] == NULL)\n\tmy_sys_siglist[SIG%s] = \"%s\";\n#endif\n", $1, $1, $1, substr($0, 13))}' < $(LIBOBJDIR)siglist.in > $@
+
+$(LIBOBJDIR)siglist.lo: $(LIBOBJDIR)siglist.c $(incdir)/compat.h $(top_builddir)/config.h
+
 # Dependencies
 $(LIBOBJDIR)closefrom.lo: $(compat)/closefrom.c $(incdir)/compat.h $(top_builddir)/config.h
 $(LIBOBJDIR)fnmatch.lo: $(compat)/fnmatch.c $(compat)/fnmatch.h $(compat)/charclass.h $(incdir)/compat.h $(top_builddir)/config.h
diff --git a/compat/mksiglist.c b/compat/mksiglist.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91f251bae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/mksiglist.c
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#ifdef STDC_HEADERS
+# include <stdlib.h>
+# include <stddef.h>
+#else
+# ifdef HAVE_STDLIB_H
+#  include <stdlib.h>
+# endif
+#endif /* STDC_HEADERS */
+#include <signal.h>
+
+#include "compat.h"
+
+#if !defined(NSIG)
+# if defined(_NSIG)
+#  define NSIG _NSIG
+# elif defined(__NSIG)
+#  define NSIG __NSIG
+# else
+#  error one of NSIG, _NSIG, or __NSIG must be defined
+# endif
+#endif
+
+int
+main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    static char *my_sys_siglist[NSIG];
+    int i;
+
+#include "mksiglist.h"
+
+    printf("#include <config.h>\n");
+    printf("#include <signal.h>\n");
+    printf("#include <compat.h>\n\n");
+    printf("const char *const my_sys_siglist[NSIG] = {\n");
+    for (i = 0; i < NSIG; i++) {
+	if (my_sys_siglist[i] != NULL) {
+	    printf("    \"%s\",\n", my_sys_siglist[i]);
+	} else {
+	    printf("    \"Signal %d\",\n", i);
+	}
+    }
+    printf("};\n");
+
+    exit(0);
+}
diff --git a/compat/mksiglist.h b/compat/mksiglist.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d3e8b1c57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/mksiglist.h
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+#ifdef SIGHUP
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGHUP] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGHUP] = "Hangup";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGINT
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGINT] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGINT] = "Interrupt";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGQUIT
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGQUIT] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGQUIT] = "Quit";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGILL
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGILL] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGILL] = "Illegal instruction";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGTRAP
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGTRAP] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGTRAP] = "Trace trap";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGABRT
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGABRT] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGABRT] = "Abort";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGIOT
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGIOT] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGIOT] = "IOT instruction";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGEMT
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGEMT] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGEMT] = "EMT trap";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGFPE
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGFPE] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGFPE] = "Floating point exception";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGKILL
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGKILL] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGKILL] = "Killed";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGUNUSED
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGUNUSED] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGUNUSED] = "Unused";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGBUS
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGBUS] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGBUS] = "Bus error";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGSEGV
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGSEGV] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGSEGV] = "Memory fault";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGSYS
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGSYS] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGSYS] = "Bad system call";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGPIPE
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGPIPE] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGPIPE] = "Broken pipe";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGALRM
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGALRM] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGALRM] = "Alarm clock";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGTERM
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGTERM] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGTERM] = "Terminated";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGSTKFLT
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGSTKFLT] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGSTKFLT] = "Stack fault";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGIO
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGIO] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGIO] = "I/O possible";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGXCPU
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGXCPU] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGXCPU] = "CPU time limit exceeded";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGXFSZ
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGXFSZ] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGXFSZ] = "File size limit exceeded";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGVTALRM
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGVTALRM] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGVTALRM] = "Virtual timer expired";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGPROF
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGPROF] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGPROF] = "Profiling timer expired";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGWINCH
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGWINCH] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGWINCH] = "Window size change";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGLOST
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGLOST] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGLOST] = "File lock lost";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGUSR1
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGUSR1] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGUSR1] = "User defined signal 1";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGUSR2
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGUSR2] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGUSR2] = "User defined signal 2";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGPWR
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGPWR] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGPWR] = "Power-fail/Restart";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGPOLL
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGPOLL] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGPOLL] = "Pollable event occurred";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGSTOP
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGSTOP] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGSTOP] = "Stopped (signal)";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGTSTP
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGTSTP] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGTSTP] = "Stopped";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGCONT
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGCONT] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGCONT] = "Continued";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGCHLD
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGCHLD] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGCHLD] = "Child exited";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGCLD
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGCLD] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGCLD] = "Child exited";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGTTIN
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGTTIN] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGTTIN] = "Stopped (tty input)";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGTTOU
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGTTOU] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGTTOU] = "Stopped (tty output)";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGINFO
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGINFO] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGINFO] = "Information request";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGURG
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGURG] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGURG] = "Urgent I/O condition";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGWAITING
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGWAITING] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGWAITING] = "No runnable LWPs";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGLWP
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGLWP] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGLWP] = "Inter-LWP signal";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGFREEZE
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGFREEZE] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGFREEZE] = "Checkpoint freeze";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGTHAW
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGTHAW] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGTHAW] = "Checkpoint thaw";
+#endif
+#ifdef SIGCANCEL
+    if (my_sys_siglist[SIGCANCEL] == NULL)
+	my_sys_siglist[SIGCANCEL] = "Thread cancellation";
+#endif
diff --git a/compat/siglist.in b/compat/siglist.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..438e86733
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/siglist.in
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#
+# List of signals used to build sys_siglist (see mksiglist.c)
+#
+# Note that if a system has multiple defines for the same signal
+# (eg, SIGABRT vs SIGIOT, SIGCHLD vs SIGCLD), only the first one
+# will be seen, so the order in this list is important.
+#
+    HUP     Hangup
+    INT     Interrupt
+    QUIT    Quit
+    ILL     Illegal instruction
+    TRAP    Trace trap
+# before IOT (ABRT is posix and ABRT is sometimes the same as IOT)
+    ABRT    Abort
+    IOT     IOT instruction
+    EMT     EMT trap
+    FPE     Floating point exception
+    KILL    Killed
+# before BUS (Older Linux doesn't really have a BUS, but defines it to UNUSED)
+    UNUSED  Unused
+    BUS     Bus error
+    SEGV    Memory fault
+    SYS     Bad system call
+    PIPE    Broken pipe
+    ALRM    Alarm clock
+    TERM    Terminated
+    STKFLT  Stack fault
+    IO      I/O possible
+    XCPU    CPU time limit exceeded
+    XFSZ    File size limit exceeded
+    VTALRM  Virtual timer expired
+    PROF    Profiling timer expired
+    WINCH   Window size change
+    LOST    File lock lost
+    USR1    User defined signal 1
+    USR2    User defined signal 2
+    PWR     Power-fail/Restart
+    POLL    Pollable event occurred
+    STOP    Stopped (signal)
+    TSTP    Stopped
+    CONT    Continued
+# before CLD (CHLD is posix and CHLD is sometimes the same as CLD)
+    CHLD    Child exited
+    CLD     Child exited
+    TTIN    Stopped (tty input)
+    TTOU    Stopped (tty output)
+    INFO    Information request
+    URG     Urgent I/O condition
+# Solaris (svr4?) signals
+    WAITING No runnable LWPs
+    LWP	    Inter-LWP signal
+    FREEZE  Checkpoint freeze
+    THAW    Checkpoint thaw
+    CANCEL  Thread cancellation
diff --git a/compat/strsignal.c b/compat/strsignal.c
index a7878ec53..188cc4a89 100644
--- a/compat/strsignal.c
+++ b/compat/strsignal.c
@@ -20,16 +20,6 @@
 #include <config.h>
 #include <compat.h>
 
-#if defined(HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST) && HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST == 1
-# define my_sys_siglist	sys_siglist
-#elif defined(HAVE_DECL__SYS_SIGLIST) && HAVE_DECL__SYS_SIGLIST == 1
-# define my_sys_siglist	_sys_siglist
-#elif defined(HAVE_DECL___SYS_SIGLIST) && HAVE_DECL___SYS_SIGLIST == 1
-# define my_sys_siglist	__sys_siglist
-#else
-# error one of HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST, HAVE_DECL__SYS_SIGLIST, HAVE_DECL___SYS_SIGLIST must be defined
-#endif
-
 #if !defined(NSIG)
 # if defined(_NSIG)
 #  define NSIG _NSIG
@@ -40,6 +30,16 @@
 # endif
 #endif
 
+#if defined(HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST) && HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST == 1
+# define my_sys_siglist	sys_siglist
+#elif defined(HAVE_DECL__SYS_SIGLIST) && HAVE_DECL__SYS_SIGLIST == 1
+# define my_sys_siglist	_sys_siglist
+#elif defined(HAVE_DECL___SYS_SIGLIST) && HAVE_DECL___SYS_SIGLIST == 1
+# define my_sys_siglist	__sys_siglist
+#else
+extern const char *const my_sys_siglist[NSIG];
+#endif
+
 /*
  * Get signal description string
  */
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index e270392fa..e63d6bff9 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -21874,6 +21874,13 @@ _ACEOF
 
 else
 
+    case " $LIBOBJS " in
+  *" strsignal.$ac_objext "* ) ;;
+  *) LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS strsignal.$ac_objext"
+ ;;
+esac
+
+    HAVE_SIGLIST="false"
     { echo "$as_me:$LINENO: checking whether sys_siglist is declared" >&5
 echo $ECHO_N "checking whether sys_siglist is declared... $ECHO_C" >&6; }
 if test "${ac_cv_have_decl_sys_siglist+set}" = set; then
@@ -21937,16 +21944,7 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
 _ACEOF
 
 
-	case " $LIBOBJS " in
-  *" strsignal.$ac_objext "* ) ;;
-  *) LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS strsignal.$ac_objext"
- ;;
-esac
-
-	cat >>confdefs.h <<\_ACEOF
-#define HAVE_STRSIGNAL 1
-_ACEOF
-
+	HAVE_SIGLIST="true"
 	break
 
 else
@@ -22019,16 +22017,7 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
 _ACEOF
 
 
-	case " $LIBOBJS " in
-  *" strsignal.$ac_objext "* ) ;;
-  *) LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS strsignal.$ac_objext"
- ;;
-esac
-
-	cat >>confdefs.h <<\_ACEOF
-#define HAVE_STRSIGNAL 1
-_ACEOF
-
+	HAVE_SIGLIST="true"
 	break
 
 else
@@ -22101,16 +22090,7 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
 _ACEOF
 
 
-	case " $LIBOBJS " in
-  *" strsignal.$ac_objext "* ) ;;
-  *) LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS strsignal.$ac_objext"
- ;;
-esac
-
-	cat >>confdefs.h <<\_ACEOF
-#define HAVE_STRSIGNAL 1
-_ACEOF
-
+	HAVE_SIGLIST="true"
 	break
 
 else
@@ -22122,6 +22102,15 @@ _ACEOF
 fi
 
 
+    if test "$HAVE_SIGLIST" != "true"; then
+	case " $LIBOBJS " in
+  *" siglist.$ac_objext "* ) ;;
+  *) LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS siglist.$ac_objext"
+ ;;
+esac
+
+    fi
+
 fi
 done
 
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index b2bbf1be7..11d2b1080 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -2020,14 +2020,19 @@ dnl
 dnl Check for strsignal() or sys_siglist
 dnl
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(strsignal, [], [
+    AC_LIBOBJ(strsignal)
+    HAVE_SIGLIST="false"
     AC_CHECK_DECLS([sys_siglist, _sys_siglist, __sys_siglist], [
-	AC_LIBOBJ(strsignal)
-	AC_DEFINE(HAVE_STRSIGNAL)
+	HAVE_SIGLIST="true"
 	break
-    ], [], [
+    ], [ ], [
 AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT
 #include <signal.h>
-])])
+    ])
+    if test "$HAVE_SIGLIST" != "true"; then
+	AC_LIBOBJ(siglist)
+    fi
+])
 
 dnl
 dnl nsswitch.conf and its equivalents
diff --git a/include/missing.h b/include/missing.h
index 90f479b02..e31220b5f 100644
--- a/include/missing.h
+++ b/include/missing.h
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ int setenv(const char *, const char *, int);
 #ifndef HAVE_UNSETENV
 int unsetenv(const char *);
 #endif
-#if defined(HAVE_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST) || defined(HAVE_DECL__SYS_SIGLIST) || defined(HAVE_DECL___SYS_SIGLIST)
+#ifndef HAVE_STRSIGNAL
 char *strsignal(int);
 #endif
 #ifndef HAVE_STRDUP
diff --git a/src/script.c b/src/script.c
index 961acf8fc..88e93d21b 100644
--- a/src/script.c
+++ b/src/script.c
@@ -629,7 +629,6 @@ script_execve(struct command_details *details, char *argv[], char *envp[],
 	}
 	flush_output(&output);
 
-#ifdef HAVE_STRSIGNAL
 	if (cstat->type == CMD_WSTATUS && WIFSIGNALED(cstat->val)) {
 	    int signo = WTERMSIG(cstat->val);
 	    if (signo && signo != SIGINT && signo != SIGPIPE) {
@@ -640,7 +639,6 @@ script_execve(struct command_details *details, char *argv[], char *envp[],
 		write(STDOUT_FILENO, "\n", 1);
 	    }
 	}
-#endif
 	do {
 	    n = term_restore(script_fds[SFD_USERTTY], 0);
 	} while (!n && errno == EINTR);