diff --git a/c++/Makefile b/c++/Makefile
index 421ff77..7442ed3 100644
--- a/c++/Makefile
+++ b/c++/Makefile
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ winsystem-$(PLATFORM).o: winsystem-$(PLATFORM).cc
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(TKFLAGS) -c $(SPARKY_SRC)/winsystem-$(PLATFORM).cc
 
 python.o: python.cc
-	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(PYFLAGS) $(TKFLAGS) -c $(SPARKY_SRC)/python.cc
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -fPIC $(PYFLAGS) $(TKFLAGS) -c $(SPARKY_SRC)/python.cc
 
 _tkinter.so: _tkinter.o
 	$(CXX) $(LDSHARED) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ _tkinter.o $(TKLIBS)
diff --git a/c++/Makefile b/c++/Makefile
index 353122d..84b0c24 100644
--- a/c++/Makefile
+++ b/c++/Makefile
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ _tkinter.o: _tkinter.c
 
 Makefile.dep: force
 	cd $(SPARKY_SRC) ; \
-	$(CXX) $(DEPEND) $(CXXFLAGS) $(TKFLAGS) $(PYFLAGS) \
+	$(CXX) $(DEPEND) $(CXXFLAGS) -fPIC $(TKFLAGS) $(PYFLAGS) \
 		$(SPARKY_OBJS:.o=.cc) $(OTHER_OBJS:.o=.cc) > $@
 
 TAGS: force
diff --git a/c++/Makefile b/c++/Makefile
index 84b0c24..933f347 100644
--- a/c++/Makefile
+++ b/c++/Makefile
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ TCL_LIBNAME	= tcl$(TCLTK_VERSION)
 PLATFORM	= unix
 
 CXX		= g++
-CXXFLAGS	= 
+CXXFLAGS	+= -fPIC
 CC		= gcc
-CFLAGS		=
+CFLAGS		+= -fPIC
 PYFLAGS		= -I$(PYTHON_INC) -I$(PYTHON_LIB)/config
 TKFLAGS		= -I$(TK_PREFIX)/include
 TKLIBS		= -L$(TK_PREFIX)/lib -l$(TK_LIBNAME) -l$(TCL_LIBNAME) -lX11