diff -up a2ps-4.15.3/doc/a2ps.texi.glibcpaper a2ps-4.15.3/doc/a2ps.texi
--- a2ps-4.15.3/doc/a2ps.texi.glibcpaper	2023-04-25 15:55:46.783621115 +0200
+++ a2ps-4.15.3/doc/a2ps.texi	2023-04-25 16:01:07.004225790 +0200
@@ -1359,6 +1359,12 @@ use output medium @var{medium}.  See the
 default; see the man page of @code{paper} for how this is configured.
 The default paper size may also be requested explicitly with the name
 @samp{libpaper}.
+
+The special @var{medium} @samp{_glibc} (which, in this Red Hat Linux
+version of @samp{a2ps}, is the default) means that you want the medium
+to be determined by the locale category @samp{LC_PAPER}.  Note that this
+information is obtained from environment variables which may not be set
+up in non-interactive environments (such as in a cron job).
 @end defvr
 
 @defvr {Option}  -r
diff -up a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/jobs.c.glibcpaper a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/jobs.c
--- a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/jobs.c.glibcpaper	2023-04-25 15:55:46.781621105 +0200
+++ a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/jobs.c	2023-04-25 15:56:51.340944620 +0200
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ a2ps_job_new (void)
   setlocale (LC_TIME, "");
   setlocale (LC_MESSAGES, "");
   setlocale (LC_CTYPE, "");
+  setlocale (LC_PAPER, "");
 
   bindtextdomain (PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
   bindtextdomain (PACKAGE "-gnulib", LOCALEDIR);
diff -up a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/options.c.glibcpaper a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/options.c
--- a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/options.c.glibcpaper	2023-03-19 18:22:01.000000000 +0100
+++ a2ps-4.15.3/liba2ps/options.c	2023-04-25 15:57:18.942082933 +0200
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@
 #include "quotearg.h"
 #include "filalign.h"
 #include "version-etc.h"
+#include <locale.h>
+#include <langinfo.h>
 
 #define MAN_LINES               66	/* no lines for a man */
 extern char *program_name;
@@ -267,7 +269,8 @@ a2ps_handle_options (a2ps_job * job, int
   struct opt_optarg *opt_optarg_head = NULL;
   struct opt_optarg *opt_optarg = NULL;
   int res;
-
+  unsigned int paper_height=0;
+  
   /* Reset optind so that getopt is reinitialized. */
   optind = 0;
 
@@ -515,7 +518,14 @@ a2ps_handle_options (a2ps_job * job, int
 	break;
 
       case 'M':                 		/* select a medium */
-	xstrcpy (job->medium_request, optarg);
+          if(strcasecmp("_glibc",optarg)==0){
+              paper_height = ((union { char *string; unsigned int word; })nl_langinfo(_NL_PAPER_HEIGHT)).word;
+              if(paper_height==279) /* US Letter */
+                  strcpy(optarg,"letter");
+              else /* Everyone else */
+                  strcpy(optarg,"a4");
+          }
+          xstrcpy (job->medium_request, optarg);
 	break;
 
       case 'n':				/* n copies */
diff -up a2ps-4.15.3/man/a2ps.1.glibcpaper a2ps-4.15.3/man/a2ps.1
--- a2ps-4.15.3/man/a2ps.1.glibcpaper	2023-04-25 15:55:46.783621115 +0200
+++ a2ps-4.15.3/man/a2ps.1	2023-04-25 16:01:48.946435970 +0200
@@ -67,6 +67,11 @@ Sheets:
 .TP
 \fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-medium\fR=\fI\,NAME\/\fR
 use output medium NAME
+
+The default behaviour is to use the locale category
+\fBLC_PAPER\fR to determine the medium to use.  Note that this
+information is obtained from environment variables which may not be set
+up in non-interactive environments (such as in a cron job).
 .TP
 \fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-landscape\fR
 print in landscape mode
diff -up a2ps-4.15.3/src/main.c.glibcpaper a2ps-4.15.3/src/main.c
--- a2ps-4.15.3/src/main.c.glibcpaper	2023-04-25 15:55:46.782621110 +0200
+++ a2ps-4.15.3/src/main.c	2023-04-25 15:57:45.302215028 +0200
@@ -933,6 +933,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
   setlocale (LC_TIME, "");
   setlocale (LC_MESSAGES, "");
   setlocale (LC_CTYPE, "");
+  setlocale (LC_PAPER, "");
 
   bindtextdomain (PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
   bindtextdomain (PACKAGE "-gnulib", LOCALEDIR);