diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 82e8fac4dad..9c27229876c 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -4280,11 +4280,5 @@ if test "X$HDF_FORTRAN" = "Xyes"; then
   esac
 fi
 
-## HDF5 configure code created by autotools with gcc 4.9.2 is adding problematic
-## linker flags:  -l with no library name; -l <libname>, specifically gfortran or m.
-## This sed script corrects "-l <libname>" first and then "-l " with no library name.
-## If the order is not preserved, all instances of "-l " will be removed.
-sed -e '/^postdeps/ s/-l \([a-zA-Z]\)/-l\1/g' -e '/^postdeps/ s/-l //g' -i libtool
-
 ## show the configure settings
 cat src/libhdf5.settings
diff --git a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
index cf82c02c71e..1592e0b81c9 100644
--- a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
+++ b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
@@ -146,6 +146,16 @@ Bug Fixes since HDF5-1.14.3 release
 
     Configuration
     -------------
+    - Removed an Autotools configure hack that causes problems on MacOS
+
+      A sed line in configure.ac was added in the past to paper over some
+      problems with older versions of the Autotools that would add incorrect
+      linker flags. This hack is not needed with recent versions of the
+      Autotools and the sed line errors on MacOS (though this was a silent
+      error that didn't break the build) so the hack has been removed.
+
+      Fixes GitHub issue #3843
+
     - Fixed an issue where the h5tools_test_utils test program was being
       installed on the system for Autotools builds of HDF5