diff --git a/gdb/ChangeLog b/gdb/ChangeLog
index 6cb324a6b4..7d6f504e4b 100644
--- a/gdb/ChangeLog
+++ b/gdb/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2003-04-13  Daniel Jacobowitz  <drow@mvista.com>
+
+	* minsyms.c (install_minimal_symbols): Only switch to gnu-v3 mode
+	if the linkage name demangled successfully.
+
 2003-04-13  Mark Kettenis  <kettenis@gnu.org>
 
 	* x86-64-tdep.c (att_flavour, intel_flavour, valid_flavours,
diff --git a/gdb/minsyms.c b/gdb/minsyms.c
index d8569ff2af..1f6cb38880 100644
--- a/gdb/minsyms.c
+++ b/gdb/minsyms.c
@@ -920,8 +920,14 @@ install_minimal_symbols (struct objfile *objfile)
 
 	for (i = 0; i < mcount; i++)
 	  {
+	    /* If a symbol's name starts with _Z and was successfully
+	       demangled, then we can assume we've found a GNU v3 symbol.
+	       For now we set the C++ ABI globally; if the user is
+	       mixing ABIs then the user will need to "set cp-abi"
+	       manually.  */
 	    const char *name = SYMBOL_LINKAGE_NAME (&objfile->msymbols[i]);
-	    if (name[0] == '_' && name[1] == 'Z')
+	    if (name[0] == '_' && name[1] == 'Z'
+		&& SYMBOL_DEMANGLED_NAME (&objfile->msymbols[i]) != NULL)
 	      {
 		set_cp_abi_as_auto_default ("gnu-v3");
 		break;