diff --git a/binding.gyp b/binding.gyp
index d837ce78..72f77f5f 100644
--- a/binding.gyp
+++ b/binding.gyp
@@ -103,11 +103,13 @@
             'libraries': ['<!@(PKG_CONFIG_PATH="<(pkg_config_path)" pkg-config --libs --static vips-cpp)']
           }, {
             'libraries': ['<!@(PKG_CONFIG_PATH="<(pkg_config_path)" pkg-config --libs vips-cpp)']
+          }],
+          ['OS == "linux"', {
+            'defines': [
+              # Inspect libvips-cpp.so to determine which C++11 ABI version was used and set _GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI accordingly. This is quite horrible.
+              '_GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI=<!(if readelf -Ws "$(PKG_CONFIG_PATH="<(pkg_config_path)" pkg-config --libs-only-L vips-cpp | cut -c 3- | sed -e "s/^$/\/usr\/lib/")/libvips-cpp.so" | c++filt | grep -qF __cxx11;then echo "1";else echo "0";fi)'
+            ]
           }]
-        ],
-        'defines': [
-          # Inspect libvips-cpp.so to determine which C++11 ABI version was used and set _GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI accordingly. This is quite horrible.
-          '_GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI=<!(if readelf -Ws "$(PKG_CONFIG_PATH="<(pkg_config_path)" pkg-config --libs-only-L vips-cpp | cut -c 3- | sed -e "s/^$/\/usr\/lib/")/libvips-cpp.so" | c++filt | grep -qF __cxx11;then echo "1";else echo "0";fi)'
         ]
       }, {
         # Attempt to download pre-built libvips and install locally within node_modules
diff --git a/docs/changelog.md b/docs/changelog.md
index a47555d9..750a8975 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/changelog.md
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
 
 Requires libvips v8.3.3
 
+#### v0.16.2 - TBD
+
+* Restrict readelf usage to Linux only when detecting global libvips version.
+  [#602](https://github.com/lovell/sharp/issues/602)
+  [@caoko](https://github.com/caoko)
+
 #### v0.16.1 - 13<sup>th</sup> October 2016
 
 * C++11 ABI version is now auto-detected, remove sharp-cxx11 installation flag.