diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 3a0ed11fa8e..ec35de5ba65 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -682,6 +682,7 @@ FLEXFLAGS
 FLEX
 BISONFLAGS
 BISON
+NM
 MKDIR_P
 LN_S
 TAR
@@ -10162,6 +10163,47 @@ case $MKDIR_P in
   *install-sh*) MKDIR_P='\${SHELL} \${top_srcdir}/config/install-sh -c -d';;
 esac
 
+# Extract the first word of "nm", so it can be a program name with args.
+set dummy nm; ac_word=$2
+{ $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for $ac_word" >&5
+$as_echo_n "checking for $ac_word... " >&6; }
+if ${ac_cv_path_NM+:} false; then :
+  $as_echo_n "(cached) " >&6
+else
+  case $NM in
+  [\\/]* | ?:[\\/]*)
+  ac_cv_path_NM="$NM" # Let the user override the test with a path.
+  ;;
+  *)
+  as_save_IFS=$IFS; IFS=$PATH_SEPARATOR
+for as_dir in $PATH
+do
+  IFS=$as_save_IFS
+  test -z "$as_dir" && as_dir=.
+    for ac_exec_ext in '' $ac_executable_extensions; do
+  if as_fn_executable_p "$as_dir/$ac_word$ac_exec_ext"; then
+    ac_cv_path_NM="$as_dir/$ac_word$ac_exec_ext"
+    $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: found $as_dir/$ac_word$ac_exec_ext" >&5
+    break 2
+  fi
+done
+  done
+IFS=$as_save_IFS
+
+  ;;
+esac
+fi
+NM=$ac_cv_path_NM
+if test -n "$NM"; then
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $NM" >&5
+$as_echo "$NM" >&6; }
+else
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
+$as_echo "no" >&6; }
+fi
+
+
+
 if test -z "$BISON"; then
   for ac_prog in bison
 do
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c2413720a18..7284f1ff622 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1214,6 +1214,8 @@ case $MKDIR_P in
   *install-sh*) MKDIR_P='\${SHELL} \${top_srcdir}/config/install-sh -c -d';;
 esac
 
+AC_PATH_PROG(NM, nm)
+AC_SUBST(NM)
 PGAC_PATH_BISON
 PGAC_PATH_FLEX
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 6e7ddd74683..622598546ae 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -350,6 +350,7 @@ missing = find_program('config/missing', native: true)
 cp = find_program('cp', required: false, native: true)
 xmllint_bin = find_program(get_option('XMLLINT'), native: true, required: false)
 xsltproc_bin = find_program(get_option('XSLTPROC'), native: true, required: false)
+nm = find_program('nm', required: false, native: true)
 
 bison_flags = []
 if bison.found()
diff --git a/src/Makefile.global.in b/src/Makefile.global.in
index 0aa389bc710..371cd7eba2c 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.global.in
+++ b/src/Makefile.global.in
@@ -292,6 +292,7 @@ FLEX = @FLEX@
 FLEXFLAGS = @FLEXFLAGS@ $(LFLAGS)
 DTRACE = @DTRACE@
 DTRACEFLAGS = @DTRACEFLAGS@
+NM = @NM@
 ZIC = @ZIC@
 
 # Linking
diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile b/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile
index da6650066d4..9fe321147fc 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/Makefile
@@ -129,25 +129,14 @@ $(shlib): $(OBJS_SHLIB)
 $(stlib): override OBJS += $(OBJS_STATIC)
 $(stlib): $(OBJS_STATIC)
 
-# Check for functions that libpq must not call, currently just exit().
-# (Ideally we'd reject abort() too, but there are various scenarios where
-# build toolchains insert abort() calls, e.g. to implement assert().)
-# If nm doesn't exist or doesn't work on shlibs, this test will do nothing,
-# which is fine.  The exclusion of __cxa_atexit is necessary on OpenBSD,
-# which seems to insert references to that even in pure C code. Excluding
-# __tsan_func_exit is necessary when using ThreadSanitizer data race detector
-# which use this function for instrumentation of function exit.
-# Skip the test when profiling, as gcc may insert exit() calls for that.
-# Also skip the test on platforms where libpq infrastructure may be provided
-# by statically-linked libraries, as we can't expect them to honor this
-# coding rule.
+# Check for functions that libpq must not call.  See libpq_check.pl for the
+# full set of platform rules.  Skip the test when profiling, as gcc may
+# insert exit() calls for that.  Also skip the test on platforms where libpq
+# infrastructure may be provided by statically-linked libraries, as we can't
+# expect them to honor this coding rule.
 libpq-refs-stamp: $(shlib)
 ifneq ($(enable_coverage), yes)
-ifeq (,$(filter solaris,$(PORTNAME)))
-	@if nm -A -u $< 2>/dev/null | grep -v -e __cxa_atexit -e __tsan_func_exit | grep exit; then \
-		echo 'libpq must not be calling any function which invokes exit'; exit 1; \
-	fi
-endif
+	$(PERL) $(srcdir)/libpq_check.pl --input_file $< --nm='$(NM)'
 endif
 	touch $@
 
diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/libpq_check.pl b/src/interfaces/libpq/libpq_check.pl
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..835638cc5a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/libpq_check.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl
+#
+# src/interfaces/libpq/libpq_check.pl
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2025, PostgreSQL Global Development Group
+#
+# Check the state of a libpq library.  Currently, this script checks that
+# exit() is not called, because client libraries must not terminate the
+# host application.
+#
+# This script is called by both Makefile and Meson.
+
+use strict;
+use warnings FATAL => 'all';
+
+use Getopt::Long;
+use Config;
+
+my $nm_path;
+my $input_file;
+my $stamp_file;
+my @problematic_lines;
+
+Getopt::Long::GetOptions(
+	'nm:s' => \$nm_path,
+	'input_file:s' => \$input_file,
+	'stamp_file:s' => \$stamp_file) or die "$0: wrong arguments\n";
+
+die "$0: --input_file must be specified\n" unless defined $input_file;
+die "$0: --nm must be specified\n" unless defined $nm_path and -x $nm_path;
+
+sub create_stamp_file
+{
+	if (!(-f $stamp_file))
+	{
+		open my $fh, '>', $stamp_file
+		  or die "can't open $stamp_file: $!";
+		close $fh;
+	}
+}
+
+# Skip on Windows and Solaris
+if (   $Config{osname} =~ /MSWin32|cygwin|msys/i
+	|| $Config{osname} =~ /solaris/i)
+{
+	exit 0;
+}
+
+# Run nm to scan for symbols.  If nm fails at runtime, skip the check.
+open my $fh, '-|', "$nm_path -A -u $input_file 2>/dev/null"
+  or exit 0;
+
+while (<$fh>)
+{
+	# Set of symbols allowed.
+
+	# The exclusion of __cxa_atexit is necessary on OpenBSD, which seems
+	# to insert references to that even in pure C code.
+	next if /__cxa_atexit/;
+
+	# Excluding __tsan_func_exit is necessary when using ThreadSanitizer data
+	# race detector which uses this function for instrumentation of function
+	# exit.
+	next if /__tsan_func_exit/;
+
+	# Anything containing "exit" is suspicious.
+	# (Ideally we should reject abort() too, but there are various scenarios
+	# where build toolchains insert abort() calls, e.g. to implement
+	# assert().)
+	if (/exit/)
+	{
+		push @problematic_lines, $_;
+	}
+}
+close $fh;
+
+if (@problematic_lines)
+{
+	print "libpq must not be calling any function which invokes exit\n";
+	print "Problematic symbol references:\n";
+	print @problematic_lines;
+
+	exit 1;
+}
+# Create stamp file, if required
+if (defined($stamp_file))
+{
+	create_stamp_file();
+}
+
+exit 0;
diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/meson.build b/src/interfaces/libpq/meson.build
index a74e885b169..b259c998fa2 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/meson.build
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/meson.build
@@ -85,6 +85,24 @@ libpq = declare_dependency(
   include_directories: [include_directories('.')]
 )
 
+# Check for functions that libpq must not call.  See libpq_check.pl for the
+# full set of platform rules.  Skip the test when profiling, as gcc may
+# insert exit() calls for that.
+if nm.found() and not get_option('b_coverage')
+  custom_target(
+    'libpq_check',
+    input: libpq_so,
+    output: 'libpq-refs-stamp',
+    command: [
+      perl, files('libpq_check.pl'),
+      '--input_file', '@INPUT@',
+      '--stamp_file', '@OUTPUT@',
+      '--nm', nm.full_path(),
+    ],
+    build_by_default: true,
+  )
+endif
+
 private_deps = [
   frontend_stlib_code,
   libpq_deps,