diff --git a/src/XrdCl/XrdClUglyHacks.hh b/src/XrdCl/XrdClUglyHacks.hh
index 610841e..e5c32b0 100644
--- a/src/XrdCl/XrdClUglyHacks.hh
+++ b/src/XrdCl/XrdClUglyHacks.hh
@@ -28,9 +28,15 @@
 #include "XrdSys/XrdSysLinuxSemaphore.hh"
 #include "XrdSys/XrdSysPthread.hh"
 
+#if defined(__GLIBC__) && defined(__GLIBC_MINOR__)
+#define USE_LIBC_SEMAPHORE (__GLIBC__ > 2 || (__GLIBC__ == 2 && __GLIBC_MINOR__ >= 21))  // in libc >= 2.21 the semaphore problem has been fixed
+#else
+#define USE_LIBC_SEMAPHORE 0
+#endif
+
 namespace XrdCl
 {
-#if defined(__linux__) && defined(HAVE_ATOMICS)
+#if defined(__linux__) && defined(HAVE_ATOMICS) && !USE_LIBC_SEMAPHORE
   typedef XrdSys::LinuxSemaphore Semaphore;
 #else
   typedef XrdSysSemaphore Semaphore;