diff --git a/.coveragerc b/.coveragerc
index 35b98b1d..bcef31d9 100644
--- a/.coveragerc
+++ b/.coveragerc
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 omit =
 	# leading `*/` for pytest-dev/pytest-cov#456
 	*/.tox/*
+
+	# local
+	*/compat/*
 disable_warnings =
 	couldnt-parse
 
diff --git a/distutils/compat/__init__.py b/distutils/compat/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b1ee3fe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distutils/compat/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from .py38 import removeprefix
+
+
+def consolidate_linker_args(args: list[str]) -> str:
+    """
+    Ensure the return value is a string for backward compatibility.
+
+    Retain until at least 2024-04-31. See pypa/distutils#246
+    """
+
+    if not all(arg.startswith('-Wl,') for arg in args):
+        return args
+    return '-Wl,' + ','.join(removeprefix(arg, '-Wl,') for arg in args)
diff --git a/distutils/compat/py38.py b/distutils/compat/py38.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0af38140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distutils/compat/py38.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import sys
+
+if sys.version_info < (3, 9):
+
+    def removesuffix(self, suffix):
+        # suffix='' should not call self[:-0].
+        if suffix and self.endswith(suffix):
+            return self[: -len(suffix)]
+        else:
+            return self[:]
+
+    def removeprefix(self, prefix):
+        if self.startswith(prefix):
+            return self[len(prefix) :]
+        else:
+            return self[:]
+else:
+
+    def removesuffix(self, suffix):
+        return self.removesuffix(suffix)
+
+    def removeprefix(self, prefix):
+        return self.removeprefix(prefix)
diff --git a/distutils/tests/test_unixccompiler.py b/distutils/tests/test_unixccompiler.py
index f17edf2f..6f05fa69 100644
--- a/distutils/tests/test_unixccompiler.py
+++ b/distutils/tests/test_unixccompiler.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import sys
 import unittest.mock as mock
 from distutils import sysconfig
+from distutils.compat import consolidate_linker_args
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsPlatformError
 from distutils.unixccompiler import UnixCCompiler
 from distutils.util import _clear_cached_macosx_ver
@@ -149,10 +150,10 @@ def gcv(v):
                 return 'yes'
 
         sysconfig.get_config_var = gcv
-        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == [
+        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == consolidate_linker_args([
             '-Wl,--enable-new-dtags',
             '-Wl,-rpath,/foo',
-        ]
+        ])
 
         def gcv(v):
             if v == 'CC':
@@ -161,10 +162,10 @@ def gcv(v):
                 return 'yes'
 
         sysconfig.get_config_var = gcv
-        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == [
+        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == consolidate_linker_args([
             '-Wl,--enable-new-dtags',
             '-Wl,-rpath,/foo',
-        ]
+        ])
 
         # GCC non-GNULD
         sys.platform = 'bar'
@@ -189,10 +190,10 @@ def gcv(v):
                 return 'yes'
 
         sysconfig.get_config_var = gcv
-        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == [
+        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == consolidate_linker_args([
             '-Wl,--enable-new-dtags',
             '-Wl,-rpath,/foo',
-        ]
+        ])
 
         # non-GCC GNULD
         sys.platform = 'bar'
@@ -204,10 +205,10 @@ def gcv(v):
                 return 'yes'
 
         sysconfig.get_config_var = gcv
-        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == [
+        assert self.cc.rpath_foo() == consolidate_linker_args([
             '-Wl,--enable-new-dtags',
             '-Wl,-rpath,/foo',
-        ]
+        ])
 
         # non-GCC non-GNULD
         sys.platform = 'bar'
diff --git a/distutils/unixccompiler.py b/distutils/unixccompiler.py
index a54481c0..0248bde8 100644
--- a/distutils/unixccompiler.py
+++ b/distutils/unixccompiler.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import sys
 
 from . import sysconfig
+from .compat import consolidate_linker_args
 from ._log import log
 from ._macos_compat import compiler_fixup
 from ._modified import newer
@@ -315,11 +316,11 @@ def runtime_library_dir_option(self, dir: str) -> str | list[str]:
         # For all compilers, `-Wl` is the presumed way to pass a
         # compiler option to the linker
         if sysconfig.get_config_var("GNULD") == "yes":
-            return [
+            return consolidate_linker_args([
                 # Force RUNPATH instead of RPATH
                 "-Wl,--enable-new-dtags",
                 "-Wl,-rpath," + dir,
-            ]
+            ])
         else:
             return "-Wl,-R" + dir