diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 0417f69423..51803c5548 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ all_binaries := $(shell sed -ne 's/^Package: *//p' < debian/control)
 # Ensure the build aborts when there are still references to undefined symbols
 # currently fails at least in the im-multipress im module
 #LDFLAGS += -Wl,-z,defs
+export DEB_LDFLAGS_MAINT_APPEND = -Wl,-O1 -Wl,--as-needed
 
 APIVER := 3
 SONAME := 0