diff --git a/build/autoconf/lustre-build-linux.m4 b/build/autoconf/lustre-build-linux.m4
index e47efd85c78a0e4dd36df5288e09705cfae9e328..9dc4831a0efc07c597e5b7ef3910c31408ca4efb 100644
--- a/build/autoconf/lustre-build-linux.m4
+++ b/build/autoconf/lustre-build-linux.m4
@@ -130,6 +130,20 @@ LB_LINUX_TRY_COMPILE([
 
 ])
 
+# LC_SYMVERFILE
+# SLES 9 uses a different name for this file - unsure about vanilla kernels
+# around this version, but it matters for servers only.
+AC_DEFUN([LB_SYMVERFILE],
+         [AC_MSG_CHECKING([name of symverfile])
+          if grep -q Modules.symvers $LINUX/scripts/Makefile.modpost ; then
+              SYMVERFILE=Modules.symvers
+          else
+              SYMVERFILE=Module.symvers
+          fi
+	  AC_MSG_RESULT($SYMVERFILE)
+          AC_SUBST(SYMVERFILE)
+])
+
 #
 #
 # LB_LINUX_PATH
@@ -446,6 +460,7 @@ fi
 AC_DEFUN([LB_PROG_LINUX],
 [LB_LINUX_PATH
 LB_LINUX_ARCH
+LB_SYMVERFILE
 
 if test $LINUX_ARCH == "powerpc64"; then
 	CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -m64"
@@ -499,7 +514,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([LB_LINUX_CONDITIONALS],
 # or check 
 AC_DEFUN([LB_CHECK_SYMBOL_EXPORT],
 [AC_MSG_CHECKING([if Linux was built with symbol $1 is exported])
-grep -q -E '[[[:space:]]]$1[[[:space:]]]' $LINUX/Module.symvers 2>/dev/null
+grep -q -E '[[[:space:]]]$1[[[:space:]]]' $LINUX/$SYMVERFILE 2>/dev/null
 rc=$?
 if test $rc -ne 0; then
     export=0
diff --git a/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4 b/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4
index 216698026f250c15912a6f2d790692dcac00b3ff..2a4eb2fc0420be3ebfadf8e44130549de2df67c5 100644
--- a/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4
+++ b/lnet/autoconf/lustre-lnet.m4
@@ -579,11 +579,11 @@ else
 
 		# we know at this point that the found OFED source is good
 		if test \( $ENABLEO2IB = 3 \); then
-			if test \( -f $O2IBPATH/Module.symvers \); then
-				AC_MSG_NOTICE([adding $O2IBPATH/Module.symvers to $PWD/Module.symvers])
-				cat $O2IBPATH/Module.symvers >> $PWD/Module.symvers
+			if test \( -f $O2IBPATH/$SYMVERFILE \); then
+				AC_MSG_NOTICE([adding $O2IBPATH/$SYMVERFILE to $PWD/$SYMVERFILE])
+				cat $O2IBPATH/$SYMVERFILE >> $PWD/$SYMVERFILE
 			else
-				AC_MSG_ERROR([an external source tree was specified for o2iblnd however I could not find a $O2IBPATH/Module.symvers there])
+				AC_MSG_ERROR([an external source tree was specified for o2iblnd however I could not find a $O2IBPATH/$SYMVERFILE there])
 			fi
 		fi