diff --git a/configure.inc b/configure.inc
index 8e44262..5addc7d 100755
--- a/configure.inc
+++ b/configure.inc
@@ -1458,7 +1458,7 @@ __AC_ELF_LIBRARIAN() {
     fi
     LDCONFIG=`AC_PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/sbin acLookFor ldconfig`
 
-    if [ "$LDCONFIG" ]; then
+    if [ "$LDCONFIG" -a -z "$CONTAINER" ]; then
 	case `uname -s 2>/dev/null | $AC_UPPERCASE` in
 	*BSD)	# *BSD ldconfig, when passed a directory, blows away the
 		# ld.so hints file and replaces it with one that's just
diff --git a/configure.sh b/configure.sh
index f0bf576..d96dd3b 100755
--- a/configure.sh
+++ b/configure.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 ac_help='--enable-amalloc	Enable memory allocation debugging
 --with-tabstops=N	Set tabstops to N characters (default is 4)
 --shared		Build shared libraries (default is static)
+--container		Build inside a container
 --pkg-config		Install pkg-config(1) glue files
 --cxx-binding		Install header files with c++ wrappers
 --github-checkbox[=input] Enable github-style checkboxes in lists
@@ -36,6 +37,9 @@ locals() {
     --DEBIAN-GLITCH)
 		echo DEBIAN_GLITCH=T
 		;;
+    --CONTAINER)
+		echo CONTAINER=T
+		;;
     --H1-TITLE)
 		echo H1TITLE=T
 		;;