diff --git a/orte/mca/debugger/base/base.h b/orte/mca/debugger/base/base.h
index 17b17da799..629ccda866 100644
--- a/orte/mca/debugger/base/base.h
+++ b/orte/mca/debugger/base/base.h
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ typedef void (*orte_debugger_breakpoint_fn_t)(void);
 
 ORTE_DECLSPEC void MPIR_Breakpoint(void);
 
+ORTE_DECLSPEC void orte_debugger_base_pull_mpir_breakpoint(void);
+
 /* --- end MPICH/TotalView std debugger interface definitions */
 
 END_C_DECLS
diff --git a/orte/mca/debugger/base/debugger_base_fns.c b/orte/mca/debugger/base/debugger_base_fns.c
index 16b35f3426..ca3d5a2c3d 100644
--- a/orte/mca/debugger/base/debugger_base_fns.c
+++ b/orte/mca/debugger/base/debugger_base_fns.c
@@ -183,6 +183,15 @@ void orte_debugger_base_init_after_spawn(orte_job_t *jdata)
 
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * Dummy function so that the linker can pull in all the symbols from
+ * this file.
+ */
+void orte_debugger_base_pull_mpir_breakpoint(void)
+{
+    return;
+}
+
 /*
  * Breakpoint function for parallel debuggers
  */
diff --git a/orte/tools/orterun/orterun.c b/orte/tools/orterun/orterun.c
index 169147aa8e..fa1ac9212a 100644
--- a/orte/tools/orterun/orterun.c
+++ b/orte/tools/orterun/orterun.c
@@ -587,6 +587,10 @@ int orterun(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
     MPIR_force_to_main = 0;
     memset(MPIR_attach_fifo, 0, MPIR_MAX_PATH_LENGTH);
+    /* This function call simply ensures that all the symbols --
+       including MPIR_Breakpoint -- are pulled in via the linker from
+       orte/mca/debugger/base/debugger_base_fns.c. */
+    orte_debugger_base_pull_mpir_breakpoint();
 
     /* Check for some "global" command line params */
     parse_globals(argc, argv, &cmd_line);