diff --git a/configure b/configure
index c206d1dc60..1925142c14 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -878,6 +878,18 @@ EOF
 	    _altivec=yes
 	fi
     fi
+    # only gcc 3.4 works reliably with altivec code under netbsd 
+    if netbsd ; then
+	case $cc_version in
+	    2*|3.0*|3.1*|3.2*|3.3*)
+		;;
+	    *)
+		if [ `sysctl -n machdep.altivec` -eq 1 ]; then
+		    _altivec=yes
+		fi
+		;;
+	esac
+    fi
     if test "$_altivec" = yes; then
         echores "$proc altivec"
     else