diff --git a/trunk/src/or/routers.c b/trunk/src/or/routers.c
index dcdfb38803..3367ae6ba3 100644
--- a/trunk/src/or/routers.c
+++ b/trunk/src/or/routers.c
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@
 #define OR_SIGNATURE_BEGIN_TAG "-----BEGIN SIGNATURE-----\n"
 #define OR_SIGNATURE_END_TAG "-----END SIGNATURE-----\n"
 
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+/* XXX this is required on rh7 to make strptime not complain. how bad
+ * is this for portability?
+ */
+
 #include "or.h"
 
 /****************************************************************************/