diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index a62b485..a4251e3 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #12326: sys.platform is now always 'linux2' on Linux, even if Python
+  is compiled on Linux 3.
+
 - Issue #12650: Fix a race condition where a subprocess.Popen could leak
   resources (FD/zombie) when killed at the wrong time.
 
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 508ae34..9d85e35 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2997,6 +2997,7 @@
 	MACHDEP="$ac_md_system$ac_md_release"
 
 	case $MACHDEP in
+	linux*) MACHDEP="linux2";;
 	cygwin*) MACHDEP="cygwin";;
 	darwin*) MACHDEP="darwin";;
         irix646) MACHDEP="irix6";;
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index c4ad4e8..3e60d8e 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -290,6 +290,7 @@
 	MACHDEP="$ac_md_system$ac_md_release"
 
 	case $MACHDEP in
+	linux*) MACHDEP="linux2";;
 	cygwin*) MACHDEP="cygwin";;
 	darwin*) MACHDEP="darwin";;
         irix646) MACHDEP="irix6";;