diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index c48fe8e..631b4b9 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+The following are the changes from calc version 2.14.3.4 to date:
+
+    Under macOS, to reduce dependency chains, we remove functions
+    and data that are unreachable by the entry point or exported
+    symbols.  In particular, the macOS linker is used with both
+    "-dead_strip" and "-dead_strip_dylibs".
+
+    The libcalc shared library is now linked with libcustcalc.
+
+
+
 The following are the changes from calc version 2.14.3.1 to 2.14.3.4:
 
     Fix typo in the `make debug` Makefile rule.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b29a4fb..8889f21 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -475,8 +475,8 @@ calc${EXT}: .hsrc ${CALCOBJS} ${CALC_DYNAMIC_LIBS} ${MK_SET}
 	${CC} ${CALCOBJS} ${LDFLAGS} ${LD_SHARE} ${CALC_DYNAMIC_LIBS} \
 	      ${READLINE_LIB} ${READLINE_EXTRAS} -o $@
 
-libcalc${LIB_EXT_VERSION}: ${LIBOBJS} ver_calc${EXT} ${MK_SET}
-	${CC} ${LIBCALC_SHLIB} ${LIBOBJS} \
+libcalc${LIB_EXT_VERSION}: ${LIBOBJS} ver_calc${EXT} ${MK_SET} libcustcalc${LIB_EXT_VERSION}
+	${CC} ${LIBCALC_SHLIB} ${LIBOBJS} libcustcalc${LIB_EXT_VERSION} \
 	      ${READLINE_LIB} ${READLINE_EXTRAS} -o libcalc${LIB_EXT_VERSION}
 
 libcalc${LIB_EXT}: libcalc${LIB_EXT_VERSION}
diff --git a/Makefile.target b/Makefile.target
index 51dfc2d..e4dd24e 100644
--- a/Makefile.target
+++ b/Makefile.target
@@ -177,22 +177,7 @@ LIBCUSTCALC_SHLIB= -dynamiclib -undefined dynamic_lookup \
 # data that are unreachable by the entry point or exported symbols.
 #
 COMMON_LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-dead_strip
-
-# Do not link with "-dead_strip_dylibs" if CUSTOM is defined
-# (i.e., ${ALLOW_CUSTOM} is "-DCUSTOM).  This is because unless
-# the application makes an explicit symbol reference to some symbol
-# in libcustcalc, the application will fail to execute due to
-# a missing symbol.
-#
-# The calc application will run with CUSTOM defined under
-# "-dead_strip_dylibs" because calc.o (in main()) makes an explicit
-# reference to custtbl_allowed (see custom/custtbl.c) in libcustcalc.
-# However applications such as sample_many and sample_rand will
-# fail to load when CUSTOM is defined and "-dead_strip_dylibs" is used..
-#
-ifneq ($(ALLOW_CUSTOM),-DCUSTOM)
 COMMON_LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-dead_strip_dylibs
-endif	# ($(ALLOW_CUSTOM),-DCUSTOM)
 
 # static library option
 #
diff --git a/calc.c b/calc.c
index dd371cc..742c20c 100644
--- a/calc.c
+++ b/calc.c
@@ -164,19 +164,13 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 				switch (c) {
 				case 'C':
 #if defined(CUSTOM)
+
 					/*
-					 * validate custtbl_allowed value
-					 *
-					 * We make an explicit reference to the custtbl_allowed symbol
-					 * in libcustcalc (see custom/custtbl.c) so that the use
-					 * of "-dead_strip_dylibs" with the macOS linker won't cause
-					 * the calc to fail to load due to a missing symbol.
+					 * error if libcustcalc was compiled with CUSTOM undefined
 					 */
-					if (custtbl_allowed == 0) {
-					    fprintf(stderr, "%s: calc was built with "
-							    "custom functions enabled, "
-							    "but custtbl_allowed: %d == 0\n",
-							    program, custtbl_allowed);
+					if (custom_compiled() == 0) {
+					    fprintf(stderr, "%s: calc was built with custom functions enabled, "
+							    "however custom_compiled() retuned 0", program);
 					    exit(1);
 					}
 
@@ -186,19 +180,13 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 					allow_custom = TRUE;
 					break;
 #else /* CUSTOM */
+
 					/*
-					 * validate custtbl_allowed value
-					 *
-					 * We make an explicit reference to the custtbl_allowed symbol
-					 * in libcustcalc (see custom/custtbl.c) so that the use
-					 * of "-dead_strip_dylibs" with the macOS linker won't cause
-					 * the calc to fail to load due to a missing symbol.
+					 * error if libcustcalc was compiled with CUSTOM defined
 					 */
-					if (custtbl_allowed != 0) {
-					    fprintf(stderr, "%s: calc was built with "
-							    "custom functions disabled, "
-							    "but custtbl_allowed: %d != 0\n",
-							    program, custtbl_allowed);
+					if (custom_compiled() == 1) {
+					    fprintf(stderr, "%s: calc was built with custom functions disabled, "
+							    "however custom_compiled() retuned 1", program);
 					}
 
 					/*
diff --git a/custom.c b/custom.c
index 1638db2..f9feedf 100644
--- a/custom.c
+++ b/custom.c
@@ -68,6 +68,14 @@ custom(char *name, int count, VALUE **vals)
 
 	CONST struct custom *p;		/* current function */
 
+	/*
+	 * error if libcustcalc was compiled with CUSTOM undefined
+	 */
+	if (custom_compiled() == 0) {
+	    math_error("libcustcalc was compiled CUSTOM undefined");
+	    not_reached();
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * search the custom interface table for a function
 	 */
@@ -100,6 +108,14 @@ custom(char *name, int count, VALUE **vals)
 
 #else /* CUSTOM */
 
+	/*
+	 * error if libcustcalc was compiled with CUSTOM defined
+	 */
+	if (custom_compiled() == 1) {
+	    math_error("libcustcalc was compiled with CUSTOM defined");
+	    not_reached();
+	}
+
 	fprintf(stderr,
 	    "%sCalc was built with custom functions disabled\n",
 	    (conf->tab_ok ? "\t" : ""));
diff --git a/custom.h b/custom.h
index 94f1707..d5aa9ad 100644
--- a/custom.h
+++ b/custom.h
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ struct custom {
  *
  * These are the required interfaces.  The dummy.c stubs these interfaces too.
  */
-EXTERN int custtbl_allowed;		/* 1 ==> CUSTOM defined, 0 ==> CUSTOM undefined */
+E_FUNC int custom_compiled(void);	/* return 1 ==> libcustcalc compiled w/CUSTOM defined, else return 0 */
 E_FUNC VALUE custom(char*, int, VALUE**);	/* master custom interface */
 EXTERN BOOL allow_custom;		/* TRUE => custom builtins allowed */
 E_FUNC void showcustom(void);		/* print custom functions */
diff --git a/custom/custtbl.c b/custom/custtbl.c
index 71c6b25..e2c16ba 100644
--- a/custom/custtbl.c
+++ b/custom/custtbl.c
@@ -25,17 +25,6 @@
  */
 
 
-/*
- * ISO C requires a translation unit to contain at least one declaration,
- * so we declare a global variable whose value is based on if CUSTOM is defined.
- */
-#if defined(CUSTOM)
-int custtbl_allowed = 1;	/* CUSTOM defined */
-#else /* CUSTOM */
-int custtbl_allowed = 0;	/* CUSTOM undefined */
-#endif /* CUSTOM */
-
-
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "../have_const.h"
@@ -46,6 +35,24 @@ int custtbl_allowed = 0;	/* CUSTOM undefined */
 #include "../banned.h"	/* include after system header <> includes */
 
 
+/*
+ * custom_compiled - determine if custom functions are compiled into libcustcalc
+ *
+ * returns:
+s*	1 ==> libcustcalc was compiled with CUSTOM defined
+ *	0 ==> libcustcalc was compiled with CUSTOM undefined
+ */
+E_FUNC int
+custom_compiled(void)
+{
+#if defined(CUSTOM)
+	return 1;
+#else /* CUSTOM */
+	return 0;
+#endif /* CUSTOM */
+}
+
+
 /*
  * NOTE: See the file HOW_TO_ADD for instructions on how to add custom functions.
  */