diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 5e706cd7e..27a7be8e6 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ M: Bruce Richardson <bruce.richardson@intel.com>
 F: meson.build
 F: meson_options.txt
 F: config/rte_config.h
+F: buildtools/binutils-avx512-check.sh
 F: buildtools/call-sphinx-build.py
 F: buildtools/gen-pmdinfo-cfile.sh
 F: buildtools/list-dir-globs.py
diff --git a/buildtools/binutils-avx512-check.sh b/buildtools/binutils-avx512-check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a7e068140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildtools/binutils-avx512-check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+# Copyright(c) 2020 Intel Corporation
+
+AS=${AS:-as}
+OBJFILE=$(mktemp -t dpdk.binutils-check.XXXXXX.o)
+trap 'rm -f "$OBJFILE"' EXIT
+# from https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=90028
+GATHER_PARAMS='0x8(,%ymm1,1),%ymm0{%k2}'
+
+# assemble vpgather to file and similarly check
+echo "vpgatherqq $GATHER_PARAMS" | $AS --64 -o $OBJFILE -
+objdump -d  --no-show-raw-insn $OBJFILE | grep -q $GATHER_PARAMS || {
+	echo "vpgatherqq displacement error with as"
+	exit 1
+}
diff --git a/buildtools/meson.build b/buildtools/meson.build
index f9d2fdf74..cf0048f3c 100644
--- a/buildtools/meson.build
+++ b/buildtools/meson.build
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 # Copyright(c) 2017-2019 Intel Corporation
 
-subdir('pmdinfogen')
-
 pkgconf = find_program('pkg-config', 'pkgconf', required: false)
 pmdinfo = find_program('gen-pmdinfo-cfile.sh')
 list_dir_globs = find_program('list-dir-globs.py')
 check_symbols = find_program('check-symbols.sh')
 ldflags_ibverbs_static = find_program('options-ibverbs-static.sh')
+binutils_avx512_check = find_program('binutils-avx512-check.sh')
 
 # set up map-to-win script using python, either built-in or external
 python3 = import('python').find_installation(required: false)
diff --git a/config/x86/meson.build b/config/x86/meson.build
index adc857ba2..6ec020ef6 100644
--- a/config/x86/meson.build
+++ b/config/x86/meson.build
@@ -3,14 +3,10 @@
 
 # get binutils version for the workaround of Bug 97
 if not is_windows
-	ldver = run_command('ld', '-v').stdout().strip()
-	if ldver.contains('2.30') and cc.has_argument('-mno-avx512f')
+	binutils_ok = run_command(binutils_avx512_check)
+	if binutils_ok.returncode() != 0 and cc.has_argument('-mno-avx512f')
 		machine_args += '-mno-avx512f'
-		message('Binutils 2.30 detected, disabling AVX512 support as workaround for bug #97')
-	endif
-	if ldver.contains('2.31') and cc.has_argument('-mno-avx512f')
-		machine_args += '-mno-avx512f'
-		message('Binutils 2.31 detected, disabling AVX512 support as workaround for bug #249')
+		warning('Binutils error with AVX512 assembly, disabling AVX512 support')
 	endif
 endif
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index e8bb9c4c1..61d9a4f5f 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -39,10 +39,13 @@ global_inc = include_directories('.', 'config',
 	'lib/librte_eal/@0@/include'.format(host_machine.system()),
 	'lib/librte_eal/@0@/include'.format(arch_subdir),
 )
+
+# do configuration and get tool paths
+subdir('buildtools')
 subdir('config')
 
 # build libs and drivers
-subdir('buildtools')
+subdir('buildtools/pmdinfogen')
 subdir('lib')
 subdir('drivers')