diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 6aa194c37f..0752d73302 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2188,13 +2188,9 @@ case "$arch" in
         arch="parisc"
         subarch="parisc64"
     ;;
-    "Power Macintosh"|ppc|powerpc)
+    "Power Macintosh"|ppc|powerpc|ppc64|powerpc64)
         arch="ppc"
     ;;
-    ppc64|powerpc64)
-        arch="ppc"
-        subarch="ppc64"
-    ;;
     s390|s390x)
         arch="s390"
     ;;
@@ -2392,6 +2388,11 @@ EOF
             spic=$shared
         fi
     ;;
+    ppc)
+        check_cc <<EOF && subarch="ppc64"
+        int test[(int)sizeof(char*) - 7];
+EOF
+    ;;
 esac
 
 enable $subarch