diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 14ab0515d1..79a2b8c8fc 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -890,6 +890,11 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([memory-alignment],
   ]
 )
 
+dnl Symbol visibility
+VISIBILITY_CFLAGS=""
+AS_COMPILER_FLAG([-fvisibility=hidden], [VISIBILITY_CFLAGS="-fvisibility=hidden"])
+AC_SUBST(VISIBILITY_CFLAGS)
+
 dnl Check for -Bsymbolic-functions linker flag used to avoid
 dnl intra-library PLT jumps, if available.
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(Bsymbolic,
@@ -987,7 +992,7 @@ dnl   will need the GStreamer source and generated headers
 dnl LIBS: XML doesn't need to be added because we don't explicitly use symbols
 dnl       from LibXML except for in the core library
 GST_ALL_CXXFLAGS="-I\$(top_srcdir)/libs -I\$(top_srcdir) -I\$(top_builddir)/libs -I\$(top_builddir) $GLIB_CFLAGS \$(GLIB_EXTRA_CFLAGS) $EXTRA_CFLAGS \$(GST_OPTION_CXXFLAGS) \$(ERROR_CXXFLAGS)"
-GST_ALL_CFLAGS="-I\$(top_srcdir)/libs -I\$(top_srcdir) -I\$(top_builddir)/libs -I\$(top_builddir) $GLIB_CFLAGS \$(GLIB_EXTRA_CFLAGS) $EXTRA_CFLAGS \$(GST_OPTION_CFLAGS) \$(ERROR_CFLAGS)"
+GST_ALL_CFLAGS="-I\$(top_srcdir)/libs -I\$(top_srcdir) -I\$(top_builddir)/libs -I\$(top_builddir) $GLIB_CFLAGS \$(GLIB_EXTRA_CFLAGS) $EXTRA_CFLAGS \$(GST_OPTION_CFLAGS) \$(ERROR_CFLAGS) \$(VISIBILITY_CFLAGS)"
 
 dnl FIXME: check if LTLIBINTL is needed everywhere
 dnl I presume it is given that it contains the symbols that _() stuff maps to
@@ -1008,7 +1013,7 @@ AC_SUBST(GST_ALL_LDFLAGS)
 dnl GST_LIB_LDFLAGS
 dnl linker flags shared by all libraries
 dnl LDFLAGS modifier defining exported symbols from built libraries
-GST_LIB_LDFLAGS="-export-symbols-regex \^[_]?\(gst_\|Gst\|GST_\).*"
+GST_LIB_LDFLAGS=""
 AC_SUBST(GST_LIB_LDFLAGS)
 
 dnl GST_OBJ_*
@@ -1023,7 +1028,7 @@ AC_SUBST(GST_OBJ_LIBS)
 
 dnl GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS
 dnl LDFLAGS for plugins; includes GST_ALL_LDFLAGS
-GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS="-module -avoid-version -export-symbols-regex '^[_]*gst_plugin_.*' $GST_ALL_LDFLAGS"
+GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS="-module -avoid-version $GST_ALL_LDFLAGS"
 AC_SUBST(GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS, "$GST_PLUGIN_LDFLAGS")
 
 dnl plugin scanner locations
diff --git a/gst/printf/Makefile.am b/gst/printf/Makefile.am
index f62b448007..b7307459d3 100644
--- a/gst/printf/Makefile.am
+++ b/gst/printf/Makefile.am
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS += $(PRINTF_EXTRA_CFLAGS)
 
 noinst_LTLIBRARIES = libgstprintf.la
 
-libgstprintf_la_CFLAGS = $(EXTRA_CFLAGS)
+libgstprintf_la_CFLAGS = $(EXTRA_CFLAGS) $(VISIBILITY_CFLAGS)
 libgstprintf_la_SOURCES = 	\
 	asnprintf.c \
 	printf-args.c \
diff --git a/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c b/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c
index 963d0c457c..d24fd4a4f9 100644
--- a/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c
+++ b/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c
@@ -1261,7 +1261,7 @@ gst_check_object_destroyed_on_unref (gpointer object_to_unref)
 
 /* For ABI compatibility with GStreamer < 1.5 */
 /* *INDENT-OFF* */
-void
+GST_CHECK_API void
 _fail_unless (int result, const char *file, int line, const char *expr, ...)
 G_GNUC_PRINTF (4, 5);
 /* *INDENT-ON* */