diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 6442d4e144..9e7c0225f8 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -59326,8 +59326,9 @@ then :
 
                                         mkdir -p contrib/qhull/install
 
-                                        if (cd contrib/qhull/build && \
+                                                                                if (cd contrib/qhull/build && \
                    cmake -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
+                         -DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON \
                          -DQHULL_ENABLE_TESTING=OFF \
                          -DBUILD_APPLICATIONS=OFF \
                          -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=$my_top_builddir/contrib/qhull/install \
diff --git a/m4/qhull.m4 b/m4/qhull.m4
index 903e17eb87..43f3002df8 100644
--- a/m4/qhull.m4
+++ b/m4/qhull.m4
@@ -53,9 +53,14 @@ AC_DEFUN([CONFIGURE_QHULL],
 
           dnl Build static libraries only to avoid RPATH issues in
           dnl the build tree.  Disable tests and applications to
-          dnl keep the build lean.
+          dnl keep the build lean.  Force -fPIC on the static
+          dnl archives so they can be linked into libmesh's shared
+          dnl library; qhull's CMakeLists only sets
+          dnl POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE on libqhullcpp, not on
+          dnl libqhullstatic_r.
           AS_IF([(cd contrib/qhull/build && \
                    cmake -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
+                         -DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON \
                          -DQHULL_ENABLE_TESTING=OFF \
                          -DBUILD_APPLICATIONS=OFF \
                          -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=$my_top_builddir/contrib/qhull/install \