diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 3843127e3..4d1501da9 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 	- requirements which begin with a leading / require files (in
 	  the database!) instead of packages
 	- clean up conflictsindex during --rebuilddb
+	- get path to gzip from /usr/lib/rpmrc rather then just hoping it's 
+	  in the path
 
 2.3.10 -> 2.3.11:
 	- fixed newlines in --scripts output
diff --git a/build/build.c b/build/build.c
index b0f03881d..06701c1c6 100644
--- a/build/build.c
+++ b/build/build.c
@@ -400,11 +400,11 @@ static char *do_untar(Spec spec, int c, int quietly)
     
     if (isCompressed(file)) {
 	sprintf(buf,
-		"gzip -dc %s | tar %s -\n"
+		"%s -dc %s | tar %s -\n"
 		"if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then\n"
 		"  exit $?\n"
 		"fi",
-		file, taropts);
+		rpmGetVar(RPMVAR_GZIPBIN), file, taropts);
     } else {
 	sprintf(buf, "tar %s %s", taropts, file);
     }
@@ -452,11 +452,11 @@ static char *do_patch(Spec spec, int c, int strip, char *db,
     if (isCompressed(file)) {
 	sprintf(buf,
 		"echo \"Patch #%d:\"\n"
-		"gzip -dc %s | patch -p%d %s -s\n"
+		"%s -dc %s | patch -p%d %s -s\n"
 		"if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then\n"
 		"  exit $?\n"
 		"fi",
-		c, file, strip, args);
+		rpmGetVar(RPMVAR_GZIPBIN), c, file, strip, args);
     } else {
 	sprintf(buf,
 		"echo \"Patch #%d:\"\n"
diff --git a/build/pack.c b/build/pack.c
index 284f5acbc..8c371c0b1 100644
--- a/build/pack.c
+++ b/build/pack.c
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ static int cpio_gzip(int fd, char *tempdir, char *writePtr,
     int fromCpio[2];
     int toGzip[2];
     char * cpiobin;
+    char * gzipbin;
 
     int writeBytesLeft, bytesWritten;
 
@@ -188,7 +189,7 @@ static int cpio_gzip(int fd, char *tempdir, char *writePtr,
     void *oldhandler;
 
     cpiobin = rpmGetVar(RPMVAR_CPIOBIN);
-    if (!cpiobin) cpiobin = "cpio";
+    gzipbin = rpmGetVar(RPMVAR_CPIOBIN);
  
     *archiveSize = 0;
     
@@ -254,7 +255,7 @@ static int cpio_gzip(int fd, char *tempdir, char *writePtr,
 	dup2(toGzip[0], 0);  /* Make stdin the in pipe       */
 	dup2(fd, 1);         /* Make stdout the passed-in fd */
 
-	execlp("gzip", "gzip", "-c9fn", NULL);
+	execlp(gzipbin, gzipbin, "-c9fn", NULL);
 	rpmError(RPMERR_EXEC, "Couldn't exec gzip");
 	_exit(RPMERR_EXEC);
     }
diff --git a/lib-rpmrc.in b/lib-rpmrc.in
index 8db04b520..0746cd608 100644
--- a/lib-rpmrc.in
+++ b/lib-rpmrc.in
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ dbpath:		@varprefix@/lib/rpm
 topdir:		@prefix@/src/redhat
 tmppath:	@tmpdir@
 cpiobin:	@CPIOBIN@
+gzip:		@GZIPBIN@
 defaultdocdir:  @prefix@/doc
 fixperms:	@FIXPERMS@
 
diff --git a/lib/rpmlib.h b/lib/rpmlib.h
index 03492d4b9..9b285bdcc 100644
--- a/lib/rpmlib.h
+++ b/lib/rpmlib.h
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ extern const int rpmTagTableSize;
 #define RPMVAR_NETSHAREDPATH		33
 #define RPMVAR_DEFAULTDOCDIR		34
 #define RPMVAR_FIXPERMS			35
-#define RPMVAR_LASTVAR	                36 /* IMPORTANT to keep right! */
+#define RPMVAR_GZIPBIN     		36
+#define RPMVAR_LASTVAR	                37 /* IMPORTANT to keep right! */
 
 char *rpmGetVar(int var);
 int rpmGetBooleanVar(int var);