diff --git a/cmake/QtModuleHelpers.cmake b/cmake/QtModuleHelpers.cmake
index eedf05b4fa..d72cd54564 100644
--- a/cmake/QtModuleHelpers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/QtModuleHelpers.cmake
@@ -202,7 +202,8 @@ function(qt_internal_add_module target)
         qt_internal_get_framework_info(fw ${target})
     endif()
 
-    if(QT_FEATURE_reduce_relocations AND UNIX AND NOT is_interface_lib)
+    if(NOT QT_FEATURE_no_extern_direct_access AND QT_FEATURE_reduce_relocations AND
+            UNIX AND NOT is_interface_lib)
         # On x86 and x86-64 systems with ELF binaries (especially Linux), due to
         # a new optimization in GCC 5.x in combination with a recent version of
         # GNU binutils, compiling Qt applications with -fPIE is no longer
diff --git a/cmake/QtPlatformTargetHelpers.cmake b/cmake/QtPlatformTargetHelpers.cmake
index 36b661741b..270ed3167b 100644
--- a/cmake/QtPlatformTargetHelpers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/QtPlatformTargetHelpers.cmake
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ function(qt_internal_setup_public_platform_target)
         target_compile_options(Platform INTERFACE "-stdlib=libc++")
         target_link_options(Platform INTERFACE "-stdlib=libc++")
     endif()
+    if (QT_FEATURE_no_extern_direct_access)
+        target_compile_options(Platform INTERFACE "-mno-direct-extern-access")
+    endif()
 
     qt_set_msvc_cplusplus_options(Platform INTERFACE)
 
diff --git a/configure.cmake b/configure.cmake
index 92d501a4d1..2274f1554d 100644
--- a/configure.cmake
+++ b/configure.cmake
@@ -189,6 +189,11 @@ qt_config_compiler_supports_flag_test(optimize_debug
     FLAG "-Og"
 )
 
+qt_config_compiler_supports_flag_test(no_extern_direct_access
+    LABEL "-mno-direct-extern-access support"
+    FLAG "-mno-direct-extern-access"
+)
+
 qt_config_linker_supports_flag_test(enable_new_dtags
     LABEL "new dtags support"
     FLAG "--enable-new-dtags"
@@ -695,7 +700,13 @@ qt_feature("reduce_exports" PRIVATE
 )
 qt_feature_definition("reduce_exports" "QT_VISIBILITY_AVAILABLE")
 qt_feature_config("reduce_exports" QMAKE_PUBLIC_QT_CONFIG)
-qt_feature("reduce_relocations" PRIVATE
+qt_feature("no_extern_direct_access" PRIVATE
+    LABEL "Use protected visibility and -mno-direct-extern-access"
+    CONDITION NOT WIN32 AND TEST_no_extern_direct_access
+)
+qt_feature_definition("no_extern_direct_access" "QT_USE_PROTECTED_VISIBILITY")
+qt_feature_config("no_extern_direct_access" QMAKE_PUBLIC_QT_CONFIG)
+qt_feature("reduce_relocations" PUBLIC
     LABEL "Reduce amount of relocations"
     CONDITION NOT WIN32 AND TEST_reduce_relocations
 )
diff --git a/mkspecs/common/gcc-base.conf b/mkspecs/common/gcc-base.conf
index 1c27f34441..ae58326289 100644
--- a/mkspecs/common/gcc-base.conf
+++ b/mkspecs/common/gcc-base.conf
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ QMAKE_CFLAGS_RELEASE_WITH_DEBUGINFO += $$QMAKE_CFLAGS_OPTIMIZE -g
 QMAKE_CFLAGS_DEBUG         += -g
 QMAKE_CFLAGS_SHLIB         += $$QMAKE_CFLAGS_PIC
 QMAKE_CFLAGS_STATIC_LIB    += $$QMAKE_CFLAGS_PIC
-QMAKE_CFLAGS_APP           += $$QMAKE_CFLAGS_PIC
+QMAKE_CFLAGS_APP           +=
 QMAKE_CFLAGS_YACC          += -Wno-unused -Wno-parentheses
 QMAKE_CFLAGS_HIDESYMS      += -fvisibility=hidden
 QMAKE_CFLAGS_EXCEPTIONS_OFF += -fno-exceptions
diff --git a/mkspecs/features/qt.prf b/mkspecs/features/qt.prf
index 6fb657e6f2..0e03027bc3 100644
--- a/mkspecs/features/qt.prf
+++ b/mkspecs/features/qt.prf
@@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ qaxserver {
 
 !force_import_plugins:!contains(TEMPLATE, ".*app"):!if(contains(TEMPLATE, ".*lib"):dll): \
     CONFIG -= import_plugins
+unix {
+    contains(QT_CONFIG, no_extern_direct_access): CONFIG += mno_extern_direct_access
+    else:contains(QT_CONFIG, reduce_relocations):!contains(TEMPLATE, .*lib): {
+        QMAKE_CFLAGS += $$QMAKE_CFLAGS_PIC
+        QMAKE_CXXFLAGS += $$QMAKE_CFLAGS_PIC
+    }
+}
 
 # qmake variables cannot contain dashes, so normalize the names first
 CLEAN_QT = $$replace(QT, -private$, _private)
diff --git a/mkspecs/features/unix/mno_extern_direct_access.prf b/mkspecs/features/unix/mno_extern_direct_access.prf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..816e28bb43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mkspecs/features/unix/mno_extern_direct_access.prf
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+QMAKE_CFLAGS += -mno-direct-extern-access
+QMAKE_CXXFLAGS += -mno-direct-extern-access
diff --git a/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h b/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h
index 00b55c7ab4..b3b3bd600c 100644
--- a/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h
+++ b/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h
@@ -214,7 +214,12 @@
 #    define Q_DECL_EXPORT     __declspec(dllexport)
 #    define Q_DECL_IMPORT     __declspec(dllimport)
 #  elif defined(QT_VISIBILITY_AVAILABLE)
-#    define Q_DECL_EXPORT     __attribute__((visibility("default")))
+#    define Q_DECL_EXPORT_OVERRIDABLE __attribute__((visibility("default"), weak))
+#    ifdef QT_USE_PROTECTED_VISIBILITY
+#      define Q_DECL_EXPORT     __attribute__((visibility("protected")))
+#    else
+#      define Q_DECL_EXPORT     __attribute__((visibility("default")))
+#    endif
 #    define Q_DECL_IMPORT     __attribute__((visibility("default")))
 #    define Q_DECL_HIDDEN     __attribute__((visibility("hidden")))
 #  endif
@@ -1151,6 +1156,9 @@
 #ifndef Q_DECL_EXPORT
 #  define Q_DECL_EXPORT
 #endif
+#ifndef Q_DECL_EXPORT_OVERRIDABLE
+#  define Q_DECL_EXPORT_OVERRIDABLE Q_DECL_EXPORT
+#endif
 #ifndef Q_DECL_IMPORT
 #  define Q_DECL_IMPORT
 #endif
diff --git a/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h b/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h
index 8747c6774b..ab0f4a1ecf 100644
--- a/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h
+++ b/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h
@@ -1289,8 +1289,9 @@ inline int qIntCast(float f) { return int(f); }
 
 #define QT_MODULE(x)
 
-#if !defined(QT_BOOTSTRAPPED) && defined(QT_REDUCE_RELOCATIONS) && defined(__ELF__) && \
-    (!defined(__PIC__) || (defined(__PIE__) && defined(Q_CC_GNU) && Q_CC_GNU >= 500))
+#if defined(QT_BOOTSTRAPPED) || defined(QT_USE_PROTECTED_VISIBILITY) || !defined(__ELF__) || defined(__PIC__)
+// this is fine
+#elif defined(QT_REDUCE_RELOCATIONS)
 #  error "You must build your code with position independent code if Qt was built with -reduce-relocations. "\
          "Compile your code with -fPIC (and not with -fPIE)."
 #endif
diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
index af0be3ff75..fa0c2486cc 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ void QCoreApplicationPrivate::processCommandLineArguments()
 
 // Support for introspection
 
-extern "C" void Q_CORE_EXPORT qt_startup_hook()
+extern "C" void Q_DECL_EXPORT_OVERRIDABLE qt_startup_hook()
 {
 }