diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-08-20-14-02-33.gh-issue-156115.KXr8wU.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-08-20-14-02-33.gh-issue-156115.KXr8wU.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..612180d3b65db2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-08-20-14-02-33.gh-issue-156115.KXr8wU.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+iOS simulator builds are now configured with
+``-mios-simulator-version-min`` instead of the device's
+``-mios-version-min``. The device flag made the linker reject libraries
+resolved from the simulator SDK, so library detection silently failed.
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index ea560d60072259..cb37159c32bba2 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -4898,8 +4898,15 @@ esac
 case $ac_sys_system in #(
   iOS) :
 
-    as_fn_append CFLAGS " -mios-version-min=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"
-    as_fn_append LDFLAGS " -mios-version-min=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"
+            if test "x$_host_device" = "xsimulator"
+then :
+  _ios_version_min_flag=-mios-simulator-version-min
+else case e in #(
+  e) _ios_version_min_flag=-mios-version-min ;;
+esac
+fi
+    as_fn_append CFLAGS " ${_ios_version_min_flag}=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"
+    as_fn_append LDFLAGS " ${_ios_version_min_flag}=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"
    ;; #(
   *) :
      ;;
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 7dfc6ca29297a8..7bf04b87cf617f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1008,8 +1008,13 @@ AS_CASE([$host],
 dnl Add the compiler flag for the iOS minimum supported OS version.
 AS_CASE([$ac_sys_system],
   [iOS], [
-    AS_VAR_APPEND([CFLAGS], [" -mios-version-min=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"])
-    AS_VAR_APPEND([LDFLAGS], [" -mios-version-min=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"])
+    dnl -mios-version-min names the device platform; against the simulator SDK it
+    dnl makes the linker reject every dylib it resolves there.
+    AS_IF([test "x$_host_device" = "xsimulator"],
+      [_ios_version_min_flag=-mios-simulator-version-min],
+      [_ios_version_min_flag=-mios-version-min])
+    AS_VAR_APPEND([CFLAGS], [" ${_ios_version_min_flag}=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"])
+    AS_VAR_APPEND([LDFLAGS], [" ${_ios_version_min_flag}=${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET}"])
   ],
 )