diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/R_ARM_COPY.patch b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/R_ARM_COPY.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..87480986352
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/R_ARM_COPY.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+@@ -, +, @@ 
+---
+ bfd/elf32-arm.c | 8 +++++++-
+ 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
+--- a/bfd/elf32-arm.c	
++++ a/bfd/elf32-arm.c	
+@@ -15398,7 +15398,11 @@ elf32_arm_adjust_dynamic_symbol (struct bfd_link_info * info,
+      linker to copy the initial value out of the dynamic object and into
+      the runtime process image.  We need to remember the offset into the
+      .rel(a).bss section we are going to use.  */
+-  if ((h->root.u.def.section->flags & SEC_READONLY) != 0)
++  if (info->nocopyreloc == 0
++      && (h->root.u.def.section->flags & SEC_ALLOC) != 0
++      /* PR 16177: A copy is only needed if the input section is readonly.  */
++      && (h->root.u.def.section->flags & SEC_READONLY) != 0
++      && h->size != 0)
+     {
+       s = globals->root.sdynrelro;
+       srel = globals->root.sreldynrelro;
+@@ -15410,6 +15414,8 @@ elf32_arm_adjust_dynamic_symbol (struct bfd_link_info * info,
+     }
+   if (info->nocopyreloc == 0
+       && (h->root.u.def.section->flags & SEC_ALLOC) != 0
++      /* PR 16177: A copy is only needed if the input section is readonly.  */
++      && (h->root.u.def.section->flags & SEC_READONLY) != 0
+       && h->size != 0)
+     {
+       elf32_arm_allocate_dynrelocs (info, srel, 1);
+
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix
index c0846fce45c..978ec3f2f99 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix
@@ -101,6 +101,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     ./patches/2.31/0001-x86-Properly-add-X86_ISA_1_NEEDED-property.patch
   ]
   ++ lib.optional stdenv.targetPlatform.isiOS ./support-ios.patch
+  ++ # This patch was suggested by Nick Clifton to fix
+     # https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=16177
+     # It can be removed when that 7-year-old bug is closed.
+     # This binutils bug causes GHC to emit broken binaries on armv7, and
+     # indeed GHC will refuse to compile with a binutils suffering from it. See
+     # this comment for more information:
+     # https://gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ghc/issues/4210#note_78333
+     lib.optional stdenv.targetPlatform.isAarch32 ./R_ARM_COPY.patch
   ;
 
   outputs = [ "out" "info" "man" ];