diff --git a/llvm/lib/CodeGen/GlobalMerge.cpp b/llvm/lib/CodeGen/GlobalMerge.cpp
index 65bf7161441ba..8aa4345cfd6df 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/CodeGen/GlobalMerge.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/CodeGen/GlobalMerge.cpp
@@ -664,7 +664,7 @@ bool GlobalMergeImpl::run(Module &M) {
       continue;
 
     if (!(Opt.MergeExternal && GV.hasExternalLinkage()) &&
-        !GV.hasInternalLinkage())
+        !GV.hasLocalLinkage())
       continue;
 
     PointerType *PT = dyn_cast<PointerType>(GV.getType());
diff --git a/llvm/test/Transforms/GlobalMerge/private-global.ll b/llvm/test/Transforms/GlobalMerge/private-global.ll
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c4152a242d59f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/test/Transforms/GlobalMerge/private-global.ll
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+; RUN: opt -global-merge -global-merge-max-offset=100 -S -o - %s | FileCheck %s
+; RUN: opt -passes='global-merge<max-offset=100>' -S -o - %s | FileCheck %s
+
+; NOTE: This is a copy of the llvm/test/Transforms/GlobalMerge/basic.ll test,
+; using `private` global variables instead of `internal`. This is to show that
+; that private globals can be merged in the GlobalMerge pass.
+
+target datalayout = "e-p:64:64"
+target triple = "x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"
+
+; CHECK: @_MergedGlobals = private global <{ i32, i32 }> <{ i32 1, i32 2 }>, align 4
+; CHECK: @_MergedGlobals.1 = private global <{ i32, i32 }> <{ i32 3, i32 4 }>, section "foo", align 4
+
+; CHECK-DAG: @a = private alias i32, ptr @_MergedGlobals{{$}}
+@a = private global i32 1
+
+; CHECK-DAG: @b = private alias i32, getelementptr inbounds (<{ i32, i32 }>, ptr @_MergedGlobals, i32 0, i32 1)
+@b = private global i32 2
+
+; CHECK-DAG: @c = private alias i32, ptr @_MergedGlobals.1{{$}}
+@c = private global i32 3, section "foo"
+
+; CHECK-DAG: @d = private alias i32, getelementptr inbounds (<{ i32, i32 }>, ptr @_MergedGlobals.1, i32 0, i32 1)
+@d = private global i32 4, section "foo"
+
+define void @use_private() {
+  ; CHECK: load i32, ptr @_MergedGlobals,
+  %x = load i32, ptr @a
+  ; CHECK: load i32, ptr getelementptr inbounds (<{ i32, i32 }>, ptr @_MergedGlobals, i32 0, i32 1)
+  %y = load i32, ptr @b
+  ; CHECK: load i32, ptr @_MergedGlobals.1
+  %z1 = load i32, ptr @c
+  ; CHECK: load i32, ptr getelementptr inbounds (<{ i32, i32 }>, ptr @_MergedGlobals.1, i32 0, i32 1)
+  %z2 = load i32, ptr @d
+  ret void
+}