diff --git a/build/openldap.m4 b/build/openldap.m4
index 9b4b8ea22597aec6ac122583f4783a12d619f5c8..14731edda2f66629fb75176a39e86a81bf912565 100644
--- a/build/openldap.m4
+++ b/build/openldap.m4
@@ -394,6 +394,28 @@ fi
 ])
 dnl
 dnl ====================================================================
+dnl Check if system uses EBCDIC instead of ASCII
+AC_DEFUN([OL_SYS_EBCDIC],
+[
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([for EBCDIC])
+AC_CACHE_VAL(ol_cv_sys_ebcdic,[
+	AC_TRY_RUN([
+main()
+{
+	if ('M' == 0xd4)
+		exit(1);
+	else
+		exit(0);
+}],
+	[ol_cv_sys_ebcdic=no],
+	[ol_cv_sys_ebcdic=yes])])
+AC_MSG_RESULT($ol_cv_sys_ebcdic)
+if test $ol_cv_sys_ebcdic != no ; then
+	AC_DEFINE(HAVE_EBCDIC,1, [define if system uses EBCDIC instead of ASCII])
+fi
+])
+dnl
+dnl ====================================================================
 dnl Check for declaration of sys_errlist in one of stdio.h and errno.h.
 dnl Declaration of sys_errlist on BSD4.4 interferes with our declaration.
 dnl Reported by Keith Bostic.
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index f3d4220f0993edd80f53735312a9359c2f9ef132..2e1441554c0ed2178d1ea8b8695fc08e6b0cec14 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -10016,14 +10016,58 @@ done
 
 # Check Configuration
 
+echo $ac_n "checking for EBCDIC""... $ac_c" 1>&6
+echo "configure:10021: checking for EBCDIC" >&5
+if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ol_cv_sys_ebcdic'+set}'`\" = set"; then
+  echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
+else
+  
+	if test "$cross_compiling" = yes; then
+    { echo "configure: error: can not run test program while cross compiling" 1>&2; exit 1; }
+else
+  cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
+#line 10030 "configure"
+#include "confdefs.h"
+
+main()
+{
+	if ('M' == 0xd4)
+		exit(1);
+	else
+		exit(0);
+}
+EOF
+if { (eval echo configure:10041: \"$ac_link\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_link) 2>&5; } && test -s conftest${ac_exeext} && (./conftest; exit) 2>/dev/null
+then
+  ol_cv_sys_ebcdic=no
+else
+  echo "configure: failed program was:" >&5
+  cat conftest.$ac_ext >&5
+  rm -fr conftest*
+  ol_cv_sys_ebcdic=yes
+fi
+rm -fr conftest*
+fi
+
+fi
+
+echo "$ac_t""$ol_cv_sys_ebcdic" 1>&6
+if test $ol_cv_sys_ebcdic != no ; then
+	cat >> confdefs.h <<\EOF
+#define HAVE_EBCDIC 1
+EOF
+
+fi
+
+
 echo $ac_n "checking declaration of sys_errlist""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:10021: checking declaration of sys_errlist" >&5
+echo "configure:10065: checking declaration of sys_errlist" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ol_cv_dcl_sys_errlist'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   
 	cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 10027 "configure"
+#line 10071 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -10033,7 +10077,7 @@ int main() {
 char *c = (char *) *sys_errlist
 ; return 0; }
 EOF
-if { (eval echo configure:10037: \"$ac_compile\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_compile) 2>&5; }; then
+if { (eval echo configure:10081: \"$ac_compile\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_compile) 2>&5; }; then
   rm -rf conftest*
   ol_cv_dcl_sys_errlist=yes
 else
@@ -10053,20 +10097,20 @@ if test $ol_cv_dcl_sys_errlist = no ; then
 EOF
 
 	echo $ac_n "checking existence of sys_errlist""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:10057: checking existence of sys_errlist" >&5
+echo "configure:10101: checking existence of sys_errlist" >&5
 	if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ol_cv_have_sys_errlist'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   
 		cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 10063 "configure"
+#line 10107 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 #include <errno.h>
 int main() {
 char *c = (char *) *sys_errlist
 ; return 0; }
 EOF
-if { (eval echo configure:10070: \"$ac_link\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_link) 2>&5; } && test -s conftest${ac_exeext}; then
+if { (eval echo configure:10114: \"$ac_link\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_link) 2>&5; } && test -s conftest${ac_exeext}; then
   rm -rf conftest*
   ol_cv_have_sys_errlist=yes
 else
@@ -10090,13 +10134,13 @@ fi
 
 
 echo $ac_n "checking strdup declaration""... $ac_c" 1>&6
-echo "configure:10094: checking strdup declaration" >&5
+echo "configure:10138: checking strdup declaration" >&5
 if eval "test \"`echo '$''{'ol_cv_dcl_strdup'+set}'`\" = set"; then
   echo $ac_n "(cached) $ac_c" 1>&6
 else
   
 	cat > conftest.$ac_ext <<EOF
-#line 10100 "configure"
+#line 10144 "configure"
 #include "confdefs.h"
 
 #include <string.h> 
@@ -10104,7 +10148,7 @@ int main() {
 extern char *strdup();
 ; return 0; }
 EOF
-if { (eval echo configure:10108: \"$ac_compile\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_compile) 2>&5; }; then
+if { (eval echo configure:10152: \"$ac_compile\") 1>&5; (eval $ac_compile) 2>&5; }; then
   rm -rf conftest*
   ol_cv_dcl_strdup=yes
 else
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 38ad26b0d7ff26fa9350b8c2ef52170082ec604e..0fdab25cf3d75b2c30c295404c5ffeb270109085 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -1669,6 +1669,7 @@ AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(getopt tempnam)
 
 dnl ----------------------------------------------------------------
 # Check Configuration
+OL_SYS_EBCDIC
 OL_SYS_ERRLIST
 
 dnl ----------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/include/portable.h.in b/include/portable.h.in
index 90a92f1e169197f32da99d99bd97fb5193aa8deb..6b5c8c1d41b2735faef99495ee1b56e56bb589e3 100644
--- a/include/portable.h.in
+++ b/include/portable.h.in
@@ -663,6 +663,9 @@
 /* define if cross compiling */
 #undef CROSS_COMPILING
 
+/* define if system uses EBCDIC instead of ASCII */
+#undef HAVE_EBCDIC
+
 /* define if sys_errlist is not declared in stdio.h or errno.h */
 #undef DECL_SYS_ERRLIST