diff --git a/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py b/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py
index 9bf54c1..9fe8c74 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py
@@ -37,9 +37,18 @@
          _winreg.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
          _winreg.HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT)
 
-VS_BASE = r"Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\%0.1f"
-WINSDK_BASE = r"Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows"
-NET_BASE = r"Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework"
+NATIVE_WIN64 = (sys.platform == 'win32' and sys.maxsize > 2**32)
+if NATIVE_WIN64:
+    # Visual C++ is a 32-bit application, so we need to look in
+    # the corresponding registry branch, if we're running a
+    # 64-bit Python on Win64
+    VS_BASE = r"Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\%0.1f"
+    WINSDK_BASE = r"Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows"
+    NET_BASE = r"Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework"
+else:
+    VS_BASE = r"Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\%0.1f"
+    WINSDK_BASE = r"Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows"
+    NET_BASE = r"Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework"
 
 # A map keyed by get_platform() return values to values accepted by
 # 'vcvarsall.bat'.  Note a cross-compile may combine these (eg, 'x86_amd64' is
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index d0e8d4b..e8eab86 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -270,6 +270,8 @@
 Build
 -----
 
+- Issue #8854: Fix finding Visual Studio 2008 on Windows x64.
+
 - Issue #3928: os.mknod() now available in Solaris, also.
 
 - Issue #8175: --with-universal-archs=all works correctly on OSX 10.5