diff --git a/build/autoconf/toolchain.m4 b/build/autoconf/toolchain.m4
index 3a7b94121dd8..9c26ef5ad0e0 100644
--- a/build/autoconf/toolchain.m4
+++ b/build/autoconf/toolchain.m4
@@ -34,12 +34,6 @@ if test "$CC_TYPE" = "clang-cl"; then
     CLANG_CL=1
 fi
 
-if test "$GNU_CC"; then
-    if `$CC -print-prog-name=ld` -v 2>&1 | grep -c GNU >/dev/null; then
-        GCC_USE_GNU_LD=1
-    fi
-fi
-
 AC_SUBST(CLANG_CXX)
 AC_SUBST(CLANG_CL)
 ])
diff --git a/build/moz.configure/toolchain.configure b/build/moz.configure/toolchain.configure
index 36b54e0982f0..a37ce6df109c 100755
--- a/build/moz.configure/toolchain.configure
+++ b/build/moz.configure/toolchain.configure
@@ -1818,6 +1818,13 @@ set_config('LD_IS_BFD', depends(select_linker.KIND)
 add_old_configure_assignment('LINKER_LDFLAGS', select_linker.LINKER_FLAG)
 
 
+# GCC_USE_GNU_LD=1 means the linker is command line compatible with GNU ld.
+set_config('GCC_USE_GNU_LD', depends(select_linker.KIND)
+           (lambda x: x in ('bfd', 'gold', 'lld') or None))
+add_old_configure_assignment('GCC_USE_GNU_LD', depends(select_linker.KIND)
+                             (lambda x: x in ('bfd', 'gold', 'lld') or None))
+
+
 # Assembler detection
 # ==============================================================
 
diff --git a/js/src/old-configure.in b/js/src/old-configure.in
index fef3f498f871..a1a562d91ff7 100644
--- a/js/src/old-configure.in
+++ b/js/src/old-configure.in
@@ -1770,8 +1770,6 @@ AC_SUBST(HOST_BIN_SUFFIX)
 
 AC_SUBST(TARGET_XPCOM_ABI)
 
-AC_SUBST(GCC_USE_GNU_LD)
-
 AC_SUBST_LIST(DSO_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST_LIST(DSO_PIC_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(DSO_LDOPTS)
diff --git a/old-configure.in b/old-configure.in
index 6e7ea41ae12b..f3ab4014e9ac 100644
--- a/old-configure.in
+++ b/old-configure.in
@@ -4212,7 +4212,6 @@ AC_SUBST(HAVE_TOOLCHAIN_SUPPORT_MSSSE3)
 AC_SUBST(HAVE_TOOLCHAIN_SUPPORT_MSSE4_1)
 AC_SUBST(HAVE_X86_AVX2)
 AC_SUBST(HAVE_ALTIVEC)
-AC_SUBST(GCC_USE_GNU_LD)
 
 AC_SUBST_LIST(DSO_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST_LIST(DSO_PIC_CFLAGS)
diff --git a/python/mozbuild/mozbuild/action/generate_symbols_file.py b/python/mozbuild/mozbuild/action/generate_symbols_file.py
index bf1ae917a2d0..e57e131aa7ef 100644
--- a/python/mozbuild/mozbuild/action/generate_symbols_file.py
+++ b/python/mozbuild/mozbuild/action/generate_symbols_file.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ def generate_symbols_file(output, *args):
         assert ext == '.def'
         output.write('LIBRARY %s\nEXPORTS\n  %s\n'
                      % (libname, '\n  '.join(symbols)))
-    elif buildconfig.substs['GCC_USE_GNU_LD']:
+    elif buildconfig.substs.get('GCC_USE_GNU_LD'):
         # A linker version script is generated for GNU LD that looks like the
         # following:
         # liblibrary.so {
diff --git a/security/generate_mapfile.py b/security/generate_mapfile.py
index 5fcb20cf3b96..7cf215bf2751 100644
--- a/security/generate_mapfile.py
+++ b/security/generate_mapfile.py
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ import buildconfig
 
 def main(output, input):
     is_darwin = buildconfig.substs['OS_ARCH'] == 'Darwin'
-    is_mingw = "WINNT" == buildconfig.substs['OS_ARCH'] and buildconfig.substs['GCC_USE_GNU_LD']
+    is_mingw = "WINNT" == buildconfig.substs['OS_ARCH'] and \
+        buildconfig.substs.get('GCC_USE_GNU_LD')
 
     with open(input, 'rb') as f:
         for line in f: