diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5f8b02c36a5ea624c9f590838737aedb2ec2f328..5a3cfba0cd3b5fce9c797f951ac352962c04524c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -643,6 +643,16 @@ checkthumb:
 		echo '*** Your board is configured for THUMB mode.'; \
 		false; \
 	fi
+
+# GCC 3.x is reported to have problems generating the type of relocation
+# that U-Boot wants.
+# See http://lists.denx.de/pipermail/u-boot/2012-September/135156.html
+checkgcc4:
+	@if test $(call cc-version) -lt 0400; then \
+		echo -n '*** Your GCC is too old, please upgrade to GCC 4.x or newer'; \
+		false; \
+	fi
+
 #
 # Auto-generate the autoconf.mk file (which is included by all makefiles)
 #
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/config.mk b/arch/powerpc/config.mk
index a30715459de952a543cd85d6fe21eac74260ac0c..b7062818bbf45c458ebf34c713eedaefa7939c06 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/config.mk
+++ b/arch/powerpc/config.mk
@@ -42,3 +42,8 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(CROSS_COMPILE),powerpc-openbsd-)
 PLATFORM_CPPFLAGS+= -D__PPC__
 endif
+
+# Only test once
+ifneq ($(CONFIG_SPL_BUILD),y)
+ALL-y += checkgcc4
+endif
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/lib/Makefile b/arch/powerpc/lib/Makefile
index 808021c42ef11ef805a9fb5f5ff6cf701e7c822a..4a4163532a47bfb2c9b17a0fa082e3c19bd2b22e 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/lib/Makefile
+++ b/arch/powerpc/lib/Makefile
@@ -75,12 +75,6 @@ TARGETS += $(LIB)
 all: $(TARGETS)
 
 $(LIB):	$(obj).depend $(OBJS)
-	@if ! $(CROSS_COMPILE)readelf -S $(OBJS) | grep -q '\.fixup.*PROGBITS';\
-	then \
-		echo "ERROR: Your compiler doesn't generate .fixup sections!";\
-		echo "       Upgrade to a recent toolchain."; \
-		exit 1; \
-	fi;
 	$(call cmd_link_o_target, $(OBJS))
 
 $(LIBGCC): $(obj).depend $(LGOBJS)