diff --git a/srcpkgs/swiften/template b/srcpkgs/swiften/template
index 350a4cc0d7f..64ee2c7f87b 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/swiften/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/swiften/template
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ checksum=2e48f081d337f471b4eba7c0c807a7b640216a76ed3568ced55abb5b927c7fd2
 CXXFLAGS="-I${XBPS_CROSS_BASE}/usr/include/libxml2 -DBOOST_FILESYSTEM_VERSION=3 -DBOOST_SIGNALS_NO_DEPRECATION_WARNING=1"
 _scons_options="assertions=1 build_examples=1 max_jobs=1 optimize=1 debug=0 swiften_dll=1"
 
+# otherwise boost will miscompile and fail to link
+case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
+	ppc*) CXXFLAGS+=" -fPIC";;
+esac
+
 do_build() {
 	case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
 	armv6*) sed -i 3rdParty/Boost/src/libs/atomic/src/lockpool.cpp \