diff --git a/m4/qt6.m4 b/m4/qt6.m4
index 0eef5543..9ad82952 100644
--- a/m4/qt6.m4
+++ b/m4/qt6.m4
@@ -1,82 +1,101 @@
 dnl qt6.m4
 dnl Copyright (C) 2016 Intevation GmbH
 dnl
 dnl This file is part of gpgme and is provided under the same license as gpgme
 
 dnl Autoconf macro to find Qt6
 dnl
 dnl sets GPGME_QT6_LIBS and GPGME_QT6_CFLAGS
 dnl
 dnl if QT6 was found have_qt6_libs is set to yes
 
 AC_DEFUN([FIND_QT6],
 [
   have_qt6_libs="no";
 
   PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GPGME_QT6,
                     Qt6Core >= 6.4.0,
                     [have_qt6_libs="yes"],
                     [have_qt6_libs="no"])
 
   PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GPGME_QT6TEST,
                     Qt6Test >= 6.4.0,
                     [have_qt6test_libs="yes"],
                     [have_qt6test_libs="no"])
 
   if test "$have_qt6_libs" = "yes"; then
     # Qt6 moved moc to libexec
     qt6libexecdir=$($PKG_CONFIG --variable=libexecdir 'Qt6Core >= 6.4.0')
     AC_PATH_TOOL(MOC, moc, [], [$qt6libexecdir])
     AC_MSG_CHECKING([moc version])
     mocversion=`$MOC -v 2>&1`
     mocversiongrep=`echo $mocversion | grep -E "Qt 6|moc 6"`
     if test x"$mocversiongrep" != x"$mocversion"; then
       AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
       # moc was not the qt6 one, try with moc-qt6
       AC_CHECK_TOOL(MOC2, moc-qt6)
       mocversion=`$MOC2 -v 2>&1`
       mocversiongrep=`echo $mocversion | grep -E "Qt 6|moc-qt6 6|moc 6"`
       if test x"$mocversiongrep" != x"$mocversion"; then
         AC_CHECK_TOOL(QTCHOOSER, qtchooser)
         qt6tooldir=`QT_SELECT=qt6 qtchooser -print-env | grep QTTOOLDIR | cut -d '=' -f 2 | cut -d \" -f 2`
         mocversion=`$qt6tooldir/moc -v 2>&1`
         mocversiongrep=`echo $mocversion | grep -E "Qt 6|moc 6"`
         if test x"$mocversiongrep" != x"$mocversion"; then
           # no valid moc found
           have_qt6_libs="no";
         else
           MOC=$qt6tooldir/moc
         fi
       else
         MOC=$MOC2
       fi
     fi
     AC_MSG_RESULT([$mocversion])
   fi
   if test "$have_qt6_libs" = "yes"; then
     dnl Check that a binary can actually be build with this qt.
     dnl pkg-config may be set up in a way that it looks also for libraries
     dnl of the build system and not only for the host system. In that case
     dnl we check here that we can actually compile / link a qt application
     dnl for host.
     OLDCPPFLAGS=$CPPFLAGS
-    CPPFLAGS=$GPGME_QT6_CFLAGS
-    if ! test "$have_w32_system" = yes; then
-      CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -fpic"
-    fi
     OLDLIBS=$LIBS
+
+    # try building without -fPIC
+    CPPFLAGS=$GPGME_QT6_CFLAGS
     LIBS=$GPGME_QT6_LIBS
     AC_LANG_PUSH(C++)
-    AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether a simple qt program can be built])
+    AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether a simple qt program can be built without -fPIC])
     AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_SOURCE([
-    #include <QCoreApplication>
-    int main (int argc, char **argv) {
-    QCoreApplication app(argc, argv);
-    app.exec();
+      #include <QCoreApplication>
+      int main (int argc, char **argv) {
+      QCoreApplication app(argc, argv);
+      app.exec();
     }])], [have_qt6_libs='yes'], [have_qt6_libs='no'])
     AC_MSG_RESULT([$have_qt6_libs])
     AC_LANG_POP()
+
+    if test "$have_qt6_libs" = "no" -a "$have_w32_system" != yes; then
+      # try building with -fPIC
+      CPPFLAGS="$GPGME_QT6_CFLAGS -fPIC"
+      LIBS=$GPGME_QT6_LIBS
+      AC_LANG_PUSH(C++)
+      AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether a simple qt program can be built with -fPIC])
+      AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_SOURCE([
+        #include <QCoreApplication>
+        int main (int argc, char **argv) {
+        QCoreApplication app(argc, argv);
+        app.exec();
+      }])], [
+        have_qt6_libs='yes'
+        GPGME_QT6_CFLAGS="$GPGME_QT6_CFLAGS -fPIC"
+      ], [have_qt6_libs='no'])
+      AC_MSG_RESULT([$have_qt6_libs])
+      AC_LANG_POP()
+    fi
+
     CPPFLAGS=$OLDCPPFLAGS
     LIBS=$OLDLIBS
   fi
 ])