diff --git a/Makefile.rules b/Makefile.rules
index a0897a5ec8a..53bfa6dbd8a 100644
--- a/Makefile.rules
+++ b/Makefile.rules
@@ -625,6 +625,12 @@ endif
 # (defined by the user's project) and "LLVM" libs (defined 
 # by the # LLVM project).
 #---------------------------------------------------------
+#some versions of gcc on alpha produce to many symbols, so use a .a file
+ifeq ($(ARCH),Alpha)
+USEDLIBS :=  $(subst LLVMCore, LLVMCore.a, $(USEDLIBS))
+LLVMLIBS := $(subst LLVMCore, LLVMCore.a, $(LLVMLIBS))
+endif
+
 ProjLibsOptions := $(patsubst %.a.o, -l%, $(addsuffix .o, $(USEDLIBS)))
 ProjLibsOptions := $(patsubst %.o, $(LibDir)/%.o,  $(ProjLibsOptions))
 LLVMLibsOptions := $(patsubst %.a.o, -l%, $(addsuffix .o, $(LLVMLIBS)))
diff --git a/lib/VMCore/Makefile b/lib/VMCore/Makefile
index d3df2bfe785..8c95e08d8ed 100644
--- a/lib/VMCore/Makefile
+++ b/lib/VMCore/Makefile
@@ -9,5 +9,9 @@
 LEVEL = ../..
 LIBRARYNAME = LLVMCore
 
+ifeq ($(ARCH),Alpha)
+BUILD_ARCHIVE = 1
+endif
+
 include $(LEVEL)/Makefile.common