diff --git a/config/user.m4 b/config/user.m4
index badd920d2b8..4e31745a2ab 100644
--- a/config/user.m4
+++ b/config/user.m4
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([ZFS_AC_CONFIG_USER], [
 	ZFS_AC_CONFIG_USER_MAKEDEV_IN_MKDEV
 	ZFS_AC_CONFIG_USER_ZFSEXEC
 
-	AC_CHECK_FUNCS([execvpe issetugid mlockall strlcat strlcpy gettid])
+	AC_CHECK_FUNCS([execvpe issetugid mlockall strerror_l strlcat strlcpy gettid])
 
 	AC_SUBST(RM)
 ])
diff --git a/include/libzutil.h b/include/libzutil.h
index e2108ceeaa4..f8712340cc5 100644
--- a/include/libzutil.h
+++ b/include/libzutil.h
@@ -276,7 +276,11 @@ _LIBZUTIL_H void update_vdev_config_dev_sysfs_path(nvlist_t *nv,
  * Thread-safe strerror() for use in ZFS libraries
  */
 static inline char *zfs_strerror(int errnum) {
+#ifdef HAVE_STRERROR_L
 	return (strerror_l(errnum, uselocale(0)));
+#else
+	return (strerror(errnum));
+#endif
 }
 
 #ifdef	__cplusplus