Joseph Zikusooka ~ Zik

A Linux software engineer specializing in open source technologies | Very experienced in building and configuring UNIX/Linux systems and servers. Passionate about developing software applications and hardware for the smart home | Currently serving as the CEO of Jambula Labs and the project leader at JambulaTV, a smart home automation and entertainment platform - https://jambulatv.com | This blog focuses on the following areas: Linux How-Tos and Tutorials ::: IT Security News ::: Free and Libre Open Source Software ::: Smart Home Software ::: Digital Innovations in East Africa https://mastodon.social/@jzik | https://github.com/zikusooka

Buildroot and GCC 15: Fixes for m4 and Other Packages

Buildroot Logo displaying text: Making Embedded Linux Easy

This week, I tried using Buildroot on my new Fedora 42 system, which comes with GCC 15. Right away, the build failed when compiling the package host-m4.

After looking into it, I found that GCC 15 has stricter rules that cause some Buildroot packages to break-not just m4, but also others like gmp. This means if you are using Buildroot on a Linux system with GCC 15, you might run into similar problems.

What to do?

There are patches available to fix these issues, including one I submitted for m4. You can find them here:
https://lists.buildroot.org/pipermail/buildroot/2025-April/777274.html

What’s next?

Hopefully, these problems will be fixed in the official Buildroot updates soon. Until then, applying these patches will help you build successfully with GCC 15.

If you use Buildroot with the latest Linux and GCC versions, keep an eye out for updates and patches like these!

Update [May 5, 2025]:

This patch has now been committed upstream to buildroot.

It will be applied as a workaround only when host gcc 15 is detected.

For more details, please check the full commit here:

https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/commit/7a07a9d155b8f601d68f07ee0ed1dc8d48907644

Buildroot and GCC 15: Fixes for m4 and Other Packages
Scroll to top