diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 8161eac1fe..fbfafe032b 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2730,6 +2730,7 @@ case "$arch" in
     ;;
     ppc)
         check_64bit ppc ppc64 'sizeof(void *) > 4'
+        spic=$shared
     ;;
     sparc)
         check_64bit sparc sparc64 'sizeof(void *) > 4'