Index: Makefile
===================================================================
--- Makefile	(revision 9126)
+++ Makefile	(working copy)
@@ -33,7 +33,12 @@
 #  LDLIBS
 #  ARFLAGS
 #
+#  CXXSTDLIB_PCLIBSPRIVATE   C++ standard library (or libraries) required for
+#                   static linking. This will be put in the pkg-config file
+#                   libopenmpt.pc Libs.private field and used for nothing else.
 #
+#
+#
 # Build flags (provide on each `make` invocation) (defaults are shown):
 #
 #  DYNLINK=1        Dynamically link examples and openmpt123 against libopenmpt
@@ -355,6 +360,9 @@
 
 endif
 
+PC_LIBS_PRIVATE :=
+PC_LIBS_PRIVATE += $(CXXSTDLIB_PCLIBSPRIVATE)
+
 ifeq ($(HACK_ARCHIVE_SUPPORT),1)
 NO_ZLIB:=1
 endif
@@ -960,7 +968,7 @@
 	$(VERYSILENT)echo 'Version: $(DIST_LIBOPENMPT_VERSION)' >> $@.tmp
 	$(VERYSILENT)echo 'Requires.private: $(PC_REQUIRES_ZLIB) $(PC_REQUIRES_MPG123) $(PC_REQUIRES_OGG) $(PC_REQUIRES_VORBIS) $(PC_REQUIRES_VORBISFILE)' >> $@.tmp
 	$(VERYSILENT)echo 'Libs: -L$${libdir} -lopenmpt' >> $@.tmp
-	$(VERYSILENT)echo 'Libs.private: ' >> $@.tmp
+	$(VERYSILENT)echo 'Libs.private: $(PC_LIBS_PRIVATE)' >> $@.tmp
 	$(VERYSILENT)echo 'Cflags: -I$${includedir}' >> $@.tmp
 	$(VERYSILENT)mv $@.tmp $@
 
Index: build/autotools/configure.ac
===================================================================
--- build/autotools/configure.ac	(revision 9126)
+++ build/autotools/configure.ac	(working copy)
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@
 AC_DEFINE([MPT_PACKAGE], [!!MPT_PACKAGE!!], [is package])
 
 
+AC_ARG_VAR(CXXSTDLIB_PCLIBSPRIVATE, [C++ standard library (or libraries) required for static linking. This will be put in the pkg-config file libopenmpt.pc Libs.private field and used for nothing else.])
+
+
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 case $host_os in
  mingw32*)
@@ -126,7 +129,7 @@
 
 
 LIBOPENMPT_REQUIRES_PRIVATE="$ZLIB_PKG $MPG123_PKG $OGG_PKG $VORBIS_PKG $VORBISFILE_PKG"
-LIBOPENMPT_LIBS_PRIVATE=""
+LIBOPENMPT_LIBS_PRIVATE="$CXXSTDLIB_PCLIBSPRIVATE"
 AC_SUBST([LIBOPENMPT_REQUIRES_PRIVATE])
 AC_SUBST([LIBOPENMPT_LIBS_PRIVATE])
 
Index: libopenmpt/dox/changelog.md
===================================================================
--- libopenmpt/dox/changelog.md	(revision 9126)
+++ libopenmpt/dox/changelog.md	(working copy)
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
 
 ### libopenmpt 0.4.0-pre
 
+ *  [**New**] Autotools `configure` and plain `Makefile` now honor the variable
+    `CXXSTDLIB_PCLIBSPRIVATE` which serves the sole purpose of listing the
+    standard library (or libraries) required for static linking. The contents of
+    this variable will be put in `libopenmpt.pc` `Libs.private` and used for
+    nothing else. See \ref libopenmpt_c_staticlinking .
+
  *  [**Bug**] libopenmpt did not build on Android NDK 15c (and possibly
     other versions between 12b and 15c as well).
 
Index: libopenmpt/dox/packaging.md
===================================================================
--- libopenmpt/dox/packaging.md	(revision 9126)
+++ libopenmpt/dox/packaging.md	(working copy)
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
     transformation if required.
  *  Use the autotools source package.
  *  Use the default set of dependencies required by the autotools package.
+ *  Read \ref libopenmpt_c_staticlinking and thus possibly pass
+    `CXXSTDLIB_PCLIBSPRIVATE` variable to `configure` if appropriate and/or
+    desired.
  *  Run the test suite in your build process.
  *  Send any build system improvement patches upstream.
  *  Do not include the libmodplug emulation layer in the default libopenmpt
Index: libopenmpt/libopenmpt.h
===================================================================
--- libopenmpt/libopenmpt.h	(revision 9126)
+++ libopenmpt/libopenmpt.h	(working copy)
@@ -111,6 +111,37 @@
  * - Consecutive accesses can happen from different threads.
  * - Different objects can be accessed concurrently from different threads.
  *
+ * \section libopenmpt_c_staticlinking Statically linking to libopenmpt
+ *
+ * libopenmpt is implemented in C++. This imlies that linking to libopenmpt
+ * statically requires linking to the C++ runtime and standard library. The
+ * **highly preferred and recommended** way to do this is by using the C++
+ * compiler instead of the platform linker to do the linking. This will do all
+ * necessary things that are C++ specific (in particular, it will pull in the
+ * appropriate runtime and/or library). If for whatever reason it is not
+ * possible to use the C++ compiler for statically linking against libopenmpt,
+ * the libopenmpt build system can list the required libraries in the pkg-config
+ * file `libopenmpt.pc`. However, there is no reliable way to determine the name
+ * of the required library or libraries from within the build system. The
+ * libopenmpt autotools `configure` and plain `Makefile` honor the custom
+ * variable `CXXSTDLIB_PCLIBSPRIVATE` which serves the sole purpose of listing
+ * the standard library (or libraries) required for static linking. The contents
+ * of this variable will be put in `libopenmpt.pc` `Libs.private` and used for
+ * nothing else.
+ *
+ * This problem is inherent to libraries implemented in C++ that can also be used
+ * without a C++ compiler. Other libraries try to solve that by listing
+ * `-lstdc++` unconditionally in `Libs.private`. However, that will break
+ * platforms that use a different C++ standard library (in particular FreeBSD).
+ *
+ * See https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/pkg-config/2016-August/001055.html .
+ *
+ * Dymically linking to libopenmpt does not require anything special and will
+ * work as usual (and exactly as done for libraries implemented in C).
+ *
+ * Note: This section does not apply when using Microsoft Visual Studio or
+ * Andriod NDK ndk-build build systems.
+ *
  * \section libopenmpt_c_detailed Detailed documentation
  *
  * \ref libopenmpt_c