diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7d7b256e..f206a21e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ doc/qpdf.1
 doc/zlib-flate.1
 examples/build/
 external-libs
+libqpdf.map
 libqpdf.pc
 libqpdf/build/
 libqpdf/qpdf/qpdf-config.h
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e882672b..5de0c05f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ distclean: clean
 	$(RM) manual/html.xsl
 	$(RM) manual/print.xsl
 	$(RM) doc/*.1
-	$(RM) libqpdf.pc
+	$(RM) libqpdf.pc libqpdf.map
 
 maintainer-clean: distclean
 	$(RM) configure doc/qpdf-manual.* libqpdf/qpdf/qpdf-config.h.in
diff --git a/autoconf.mk.in b/autoconf.mk.in
index 9d7a65e8..3fd75082 100644
--- a/autoconf.mk.in
+++ b/autoconf.mk.in
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 PACKAGE_TARNAME=@PACKAGE_TARNAME@
 PACKAGE_VERSION=@PACKAGE_VERSION@
+LT_CURRENT=@LT_CURRENT@
+LT_REVISION=@LT_REVISION@
+LT_AGE=@LT_AGE@
 top_builddir=@top_builddir@
 prefix=@prefix@
 exec_prefix=@exec_prefix@
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index fd271214..36119999 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([autoconf.mk])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([manual/html.xsl manual/print.xsl])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([libqpdf.pc])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([libqpdf.map])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([libqpdf/qpdf/qpdf-config.h])
 
 AC_PROG_CC
@@ -16,6 +17,25 @@ AC_PROG_CXX
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 LT_INIT([win32-dll])
 
+# * If any interfaces have been removed or changed, or if any private
+#   member variables or virtual functions have been added to any
+#   class, we are not binary compatible. Increment LT_CURRENT, and set
+#   LT_AGE and LT_REVISION to 0.
+#
+# * Otherwise, if any interfaces have been added since the last public
+#   release, then increment LT_CURRENT and LT_AGE, and set LT_REVISION
+#   to 0.
+#
+# * Otherwise, increment LT_REVISION
+
+# LT = libtool
+LT_CURRENT=17
+LT_REVISION=0
+LT_AGE=0
+AC_SUBST(LT_CURRENT)
+AC_SUBST(LT_REVISION)
+AC_SUBST(LT_AGE)
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(insecure-random,
    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-insecure-random],
                   [whether to use stdlib's random number generator (default is no)]),
diff --git a/libqpdf.map b/libqpdf.map
deleted file mode 100644
index 548dcb4d..00000000
--- a/libqpdf.map
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-LIBQPDF_17 {
-  global:
-    *;
-};
diff --git a/libqpdf.map.in b/libqpdf.map.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..68ab12cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libqpdf.map.in
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+LIBQPDF_@LT_CURRENT@ {
+  global:
+    *;
+};
diff --git a/libqpdf/build.mk b/libqpdf/build.mk
index e8561128..b8cf1dbc 100644
--- a/libqpdf/build.mk
+++ b/libqpdf/build.mk
@@ -81,36 +81,5 @@ $(CCOBJS_libqpdf): libqpdf/$(OUTPUT_DIR)/%.$(LOBJ): libqpdf/%.cc
 $(COBJS_libqpdf): libqpdf/$(OUTPUT_DIR)/%.$(LOBJ): libqpdf/%.c
 	$(call c_libcompile,$<,$(INCLUDES_libqpdf))
 
-# Last three arguments to makelib are CURRENT,REVISION,AGE.
-#
-# * If any interfaces have been removed or changed, we are not binary
-#   compatible.  Increment CURRENT, and set AGE and REVISION to 0.
-#   Also update libqpdf.map, changing the numeric portion to match
-#   CURRENT.
-#
-# * Otherwise, if any interfaces have been added since the last
-#   public release, then increment CURRENT and AGE, and set REVISION
-#   to 0.
-#
-# * Otherwise, increment REVISION
-
-CURRENT := 17
-REVISION := 0
-AGE := 0
-$(TARGETS_libqpdf): $(OBJS_libqpdf) libqpdf/$(OUTPUT_DIR)/checkmap_libqpdf-$(CURRENT).stamp
-	$(call makelib,$(OBJS_libqpdf),$@,$(LDFLAGS),$(LIBS),$(CURRENT),$(REVISION),$(AGE))
-
-libqpdf/$(OUTPUT_DIR)/checkmap_libqpdf-$(CURRENT).stamp: libqpdf.map
-	@if [ $$(head -1 libqpdf.map | awk '{print $$1}') = LIBQPDF_$(CURRENT) ]; then \
-		touch $@; \
-	else \
-		echo ''; \
-		echo '****'; \
-		echo libqpdf.map is out of date; \
-		echo first line should contain LIBQPDF_$(CURRENT); \
-		echo '****'; \
-		echo ''; \
-		rm -f $@; \
-		false; \
-	fi
-
+$(TARGETS_libqpdf): $(OBJS_libqpdf)
+	$(call makelib,$(OBJS_libqpdf),$@,$(LDFLAGS),$(LIBS),$(LT_CURRENT),$(LT_REVISION),$(LT_AGE))