diff -durpN pkg-config.orig/main.c pkg-config/main.c
--- pkg-config.orig/main.c	2012-11-02 20:27:55.493095216 +0100
+++ pkg-config/main.c	2012-11-02 22:01:02.753900274 +0100
@@ -740,9 +740,17 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   if (want_l_libs)
     {
-      char *str = packages_get_l_libs (packages);
+      char *str;
+
+      str = packages_get_l_libs (packages);
       printf ("%s ", str);
       g_free (str);
+
+      str = packages_get_l_libs_wa (packages);
+      if (str)
+        printf ("-Wl,--whole-archive %s -Wl,--no-whole-archive ", str);
+      g_free (str);
+
       need_newline = TRUE;
     }
   else if (want_L_libs)
diff -durpN pkg-config.orig/parse.c pkg-config/parse.c
--- pkg-config.orig/parse.c	2012-11-02 20:27:55.493095216 +0100
+++ pkg-config/parse.c	2012-11-02 22:01:02.754900280 +0100
@@ -601,7 +601,8 @@ static char *strdup_escape_shell(const c
 
 static void _do_parse_libs (Package *pkg, int argc, char **argv)
 {
-  int i;
+  int i, whole_archive, n_whole_archive;
+  GSList **l_libs;
 #ifdef G_OS_WIN32
   char *L_flag = (msvc_syntax ? "/libpath:" : "-L");
   char *l_flag = (msvc_syntax ? "" : "-l");
@@ -613,6 +614,9 @@ static void _do_parse_libs (Package *pkg
 #endif
 
   i = 0;
+  whole_archive = 0;
+  n_whole_archive = 0;
+  l_libs = &pkg->l_libs;
   while (i < argc)
     {
       char *tmp = trim_string (argv[i]);
@@ -631,9 +635,21 @@ static void _do_parse_libs (Package *pkg
           while (*p && isspace ((guchar)*p))
             ++p;
 
-          pkg->l_libs = g_slist_prepend (pkg->l_libs,
+          *l_libs = g_slist_prepend (*l_libs,
                                          g_strconcat (l_flag, p, lib_suffix, NULL));
 
+          if (whole_archive)
+            n_whole_archive++;
+        }
+      else if (strcmp("-Wl,--whole-archive",arg) == 0)
+        {
+          whole_archive = 1;
+          l_libs = &pkg->l_libs_wa;
+        }
+      else if (strcmp("-Wl,--no-whole-archive",arg) == 0)
+        {
+          whole_archive = 0;
+          l_libs = &pkg->l_libs;
         }
       else if (p[0] == '-' &&
                p[1] == 'L')
@@ -671,7 +687,14 @@ static void _do_parse_libs (Package *pkg
 
       ++i;
     }
-
+  if (pkg->l_libs_wa)
+    {
+      if (n_whole_archive == 0)
+        {
+          g_slist_free_full(pkg->l_libs_wa, g_free);
+          pkg->l_libs_wa = NULL;
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 
diff -durpN pkg-config.orig/pkg.c pkg-config/pkg.c
--- pkg-config.orig/pkg.c	2012-11-02 20:27:55.495095230 +0100
+++ pkg-config/pkg.c	2012-11-02 22:06:14.116688899 +0100
@@ -532,6 +532,12 @@ get_l_libs (Package *pkg)
 }
 
 static GSList *
+get_l_libs_wa (Package *pkg)
+{
+  return pkg->l_libs_wa;
+}
+
+static GSList *
 get_L_libs (Package *pkg)
 {
   return pkg->L_libs;
@@ -1025,6 +1031,13 @@ packages_get_l_libs (GSList     *pkgs)
 }
 
 char *
+packages_get_l_libs_wa (GSList     *pkgs)
+{
+  return get_multi_merged_from_back (pkgs, get_l_libs_wa, FALSE,
+				     !ignore_private_libs);
+}
+
+char *
 packages_get_L_libs (GSList     *pkgs)
 {
   return get_multi_merged (pkgs, get_L_libs, TRUE, !ignore_private_libs);
@@ -1040,6 +1053,7 @@ char *
 packages_get_all_libs (GSList *pkgs)
 {
   char *l_libs;
+  char *l_libs_wa;
   char *L_libs;
   char *other_libs;
   GString *str;
@@ -1050,6 +1064,7 @@ packages_get_all_libs (GSList *pkgs)
   other_libs = packages_get_other_libs (pkgs);
   L_libs = packages_get_L_libs (pkgs);
   l_libs = packages_get_l_libs (pkgs);
+  l_libs_wa = packages_get_l_libs_wa (pkgs);
 
   if (other_libs)
     g_string_append (str, other_libs);
@@ -1060,6 +1075,14 @@ packages_get_all_libs (GSList *pkgs)
   if (l_libs)
     g_string_append (str, l_libs); 
 
+  if (l_libs_wa)
+    {
+      g_string_append (str, "-Wl,--whole-archive ");
+      g_string_append (str, l_libs_wa);
+      g_string_append (str, "-Wl,--no-whole-archive ");
+    }
+
+  g_free (l_libs_wa);
   g_free (l_libs);
   g_free (L_libs);
   g_free (other_libs);
diff -durpN pkg-config.orig/pkg.h pkg-config/pkg.h
--- pkg-config.orig/pkg.h	2012-11-02 20:27:55.495095230 +0100
+++ pkg-config/pkg.h	2012-11-02 22:03:31.315741748 +0100
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ struct _Package
   GSList *requires_private_entries;
   GSList *requires_private;
   GSList *l_libs;
+  GSList *l_libs_wa;
   GSList *L_libs;
   GSList *other_libs;
   GSList *I_cflags;
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ struct _Package
 Package *get_package               (const char *name);
 Package *get_package_quiet         (const char *name);
 char *   packages_get_l_libs       (GSList     *pkgs);
+char *   packages_get_l_libs_wa    (GSList     *pkgs);
 char *   packages_get_L_libs       (GSList     *pkgs);
 char *   packages_get_other_libs   (GSList     *pkgs);
 char *   packages_get_all_libs     (GSList     *pkgs);