diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 145feb1245..ee06466c09 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+2008-03-17  Andy Wingo  <wingo@pobox.com>
+
+	* ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am (libgstffmpeg_la_LIBADD): Re-add -lz
+	explicitly here.
+
+	* configure.ac: Remove -lz from FFMPEG_LIBS, because FFMPEG_LIBS
+	are used in the Makefile.am as a DEPENDENCIES target, and -lz is
+	not a target. Also in a blahriffic turn of events, MMX and Altivec
+	code on MacOS 10.5 produces non-PIC code. Turn them off on macos.
+
 2008-03-11  Wim Taymans  <wim.taymans@collabora.co.uk>
 
 	* ext/ffmpeg/gstffmpegdec.c: (gst_ffmpegdec_sink_event):
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index e92499bbbb..8a7c26622f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -259,8 +259,7 @@ else
   dnl libgstffmpeg.la: libs to statically link to        
   FFMPEG_LIBS="\$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavformat/libavformat.a \
                \$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavcodec/libavcodec.a \
-               \$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavutil/libavutil.a \
-              -lz"
+               \$(top_builddir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavutil/libavutil.a"
   dnl
   POSTPROC_CFLAGS="-I \$(top_srcdir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libpostproc	\
                    -I \$(top_srcdir)/gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/libavutil 	\
@@ -274,7 +273,21 @@ else
   FFMPEG_SUBDIRS=gst-libs
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_AVI_H)
   AC_DEFINE([FFMPEG_SOURCE], ["local snapshot"], [Describes where the FFmpeg libraries come from.])
-  ac_configure_args="$ac_configure_args --disable-vhook --disable-ffserver --disable-ffplay --enable-pp --enable-gpl --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-encoder=flac --disable-decoder=cavs --extra-cflags=-fPIC"
+  ac_configure_args="$ac_configure_args --disable-vhook --disable-ffserver --disable-ffplay --enable-pp --enable-gpl --enable-static --disable-encoder=flac --disable-decoder=cavs --extra-cflags=-fPIC"
+  case $host_os in
+    # Unfortunately, in Mac OS 10.5 the current rev of ffmpeg builds
+    # some non-PIC code into the .a file. See
+    # http://trac.macosforge.org/projects/macports/ticket/13725 for more
+    # info.
+    darwin*) 
+      ac_configure_args="$ac_configure_args --disable-mmx --disable-altivec"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      # --disable-shared on macos turns on -mdynamic-no-pic, which we
+      # can't have
+      ac_configure_args="$ac_configure_args --disable-shared"
+      ;;
+  esac
   AC_SUBST(FFMPEG_CO_DIR)
   AC_SUBST(FFMPEG_SVN)
   AC_SUBST(FFMPEG_REVISION)
diff --git a/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am b/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am
index 5ee00cf88b..cbf98d44e7 100644
--- a/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am
+++ b/ext/ffmpeg/Makefile.am
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ libgstffmpeg_la_SOURCES = gstffmpeg.c	\
 
 libgstffmpeg_la_CFLAGS = $(GST_CFLAGS) $(GST_PLUGINS_BASE_CFLAGS) \
 	$(FFMPEG_CFLAGS)
-libgstffmpeg_la_LIBADD = $(FFMPEG_LIBS) $(GST_BASE_LIBS) $(LIBM)
+libgstffmpeg_la_LIBADD = $(FFMPEG_LIBS) $(GST_BASE_LIBS) $(LIBM) -lz
 libgstffmpeg_la_LDFLAGS = $(GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS) $(DARWIN_LDFLAGS)
 
 if HAVE_FFMPEG_UNINSTALLED