diff --git a/src/cf/osconf.m4 b/src/cf/osconf.m4
index a4634daa1a..402050880b 100644
--- a/src/cf/osconf.m4
+++ b/src/cf/osconf.m4
@@ -1074,6 +1074,12 @@ else
   CFLAGS_NOUNUSED=
 fi
 
+if test "x$GCC" = "xyes"; then
+  CFLAGS_NOOLDSTYLE="-Wno-old-style-definition"
+else
+  CFLAGS_NOOLDSTYLE=
+fi
+
 dnl horribly cheating, assuming double / is ok.
 case $INSTALL in
   ./* ) 
@@ -1126,6 +1132,7 @@ AC_SUBST(XCFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(CFLAGS_NOERROR)
 AC_SUBST(CFLAGS_NOSTRICT)
 AC_SUBST(CFLAGS_NOUNUSED)
+AC_SUBST(CFLAGS_NOOLDSTYLE)
 AC_SUBST(XCFLAGS64)
 AC_SUBST(XLDFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(XLDFLAGS64)
diff --git a/src/comerr/Makefile.in b/src/comerr/Makefile.in
index 806332d818..a22742d4c0 100644
--- a/src/comerr/Makefile.in
+++ b/src/comerr/Makefile.in
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ libcom_err.a: error_msg.o et_name.o com_err.o AFS_component_version_number.o
 # so we need to add the source directory to the includes to pick up local headers.
 #
 error_table.o: error_table.c
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -I${srcdir} @CFLAGS_NOUNUSED@ -c error_table.c
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -I${srcdir} @CFLAGS_NOUNUSED@ @CFLAGS_NOOLDSTYLE@ -c error_table.c
 
 #
 # Installation targets