diff -ur icu.org/source/config/mh-linux icu/source/config/mh-linux
--- icu.org/source/config/mh-linux	2017-04-21 23:09:57.588533707 +0200
+++ icu/source/config/mh-linux	2017-04-21 23:11:38.075292226 +0200
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@
 RPATHLDFLAGS=${LD_RPATH_PRE}'$$ORIGIN'
 
 ## These are the library specific LDFLAGS
-LDFLAGSICUDT=-nodefaultlibs -nostdlib
+#LDFLAGSICUDT=-nodefaultlibs -nostdlib
+# Debian change: linking icudata as data only causes too many problems.
+LDFLAGSICUDT=
 
 ## Compiler switch to embed a library name
 # The initial tab in the next line is to prevent icu-config from reading it.
