diff --git a/ompi/mca/sharedfp/sm/configure.m4 b/ompi/mca/sharedfp/sm/configure.m4
index 7224f15a93a..e6d52a9e69c 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/sharedfp/sm/configure.m4
+++ b/ompi/mca/sharedfp/sm/configure.m4
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2004-2012 The Regents of the University of California.
 #                         All rights reserved.
 # Copyright (c) 2010-2014 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
-# Copyright (c) 2008-2015 University of Houston. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2008-2021 University of Houston. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2021      Argonne National Laboratory. All rights
+#                         reserved.
 # $COPYRIGHT$
 #
 # Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -27,11 +29,19 @@ AC_DEFUN([MCA_ompi_sharedfp_sm_CONFIG],[
 
     sharedfp_sm_happy=no
     AC_CHECK_HEADER([semaphore.h],
-                    [AC_CHECK_FUNCS([sem_open],[sharedfp_sm_happy=yes],[])])
-
+                    [dnl requires potentially pthread library
+                     OPAL_SEARCH_LIBS_COMPONENT([sharedfp_sm],
+                                    [sem_open], [pthread],
+                                    [AC_CHECK_FUNCS([sem_open],
+                                                    [sharedfp_sm_happy="yes"],[])]
+                                                )])
     AC_CHECK_HEADER([semaphore.h],
-        [AC_CHECK_FUNCS([sem_init],[sharedfp_sm_happy=yes],[])])
-
+                    [dnl requires potentially pthread library
+                     OPAL_SEARCH_LIBS_COMPONENT([sharedfp_sm],
+                                    [sem_init], [pthread],
+                                    [AC_CHECK_FUNCS([sem_init],
+                                                    [sharedfp_sm_happy="yes"],[])]
+                                                )])
     AS_IF([test "$sharedfp_sm_happy" = "yes"],
           [$1],
           [$2])