diff --git a/tar.changes b/tar.changes
index 662f59b..6d8c4c2 100644
--- a/tar.changes
+++ b/tar.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Fri Apr 20 19:55:01 UTC 2012 - crrodriguez@opensuse.org
+
+- disable 'runtime checks' in m4/*.m4 that override
+  system calls with custom implementations to workaround
+  very old kernel/libc bugs (dating 2003-2009)
+  we do not ship those buggy components nowdays.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Fri Apr 20 15:38:17 UTC 2012 - crrodriguez@opensuse.org
+
+- Switch to default archive type to POSIX.1-2001, which is ten years
+  old and has no limits on filesize,filename length etc.
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Mon Dec 19 13:43:45 UTC 2011 - tcech@suse.cz
 
diff --git a/tar.spec b/tar.spec
index 5aba053..e0440d1 100644
--- a/tar.spec
+++ b/tar.spec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #
 # spec file for package tar
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2011 SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, Nuernberg, Germany.
+# Copyright (c) 2012 SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, Nuernberg, Germany.
 #
 # All modifications and additions to the file contributed by third parties
 # remain the property of their copyright owners, unless otherwise agreed
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 # Please submit bugfixes or comments via http://bugs.opensuse.org/
 #
 
+
 # minimum suse version where the full featured package builds
 %define min_suse_ver 1010
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ Patch3:         tar-wildcards.patch
 Patch6:         tar-backup-spec-fix-paths.patch
 Patch7:         tar-1.26-remove_O_NONBLOCK.patch
 %if 0%{?suse_version} >= %min_suse_ver
+BuildRequires:  automake
 BuildRequires:  help2man
 Recommends:     tar-lang = %{version}
 Recommends:     xz
@@ -68,6 +70,9 @@ Shell scripts for system backup/restore
 %define my_cflags -W -Wall -Wpointer-arith -Wstrict-prototypes -Wformat-security -Wno-unused-parameter
 export CFLAGS="%{optflags} %my_cflags"
 export RSH="/usr/bin/rsh"
+export DEFAULT_ARCHIVE_FORMAT="POSIX"
+sed -i -e 's@need runtime check@yes@g' m4/*.m4
+autoreconf -fiv
 %configure \
 	--enable-backup-scripts \
 	--disable-silent-rules