diff --git a/env/toolchain.sh b/env/toolchain.sh
index 80cebcc..a6fb394 100755
--- a/env/toolchain.sh
+++ b/env/toolchain.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ export CC="${TOOLCHAIN}"/bin/${ANDROID_TARGET}${ANDROID_API_LEVEL}-clang
 export CXX="${TOOLCHAIN}"/bin/${ANDROID_TARGET}${ANDROID_API_LEVEL}-clang++
 export OBJC="${CC}"
 export OBJCXX="${CXX}"
-export LD="${CC}"
+export LD="${TOOLCHAIN}"/bin/${ANDROID_TARGET_BINUTILS}-ld.gold
 export AR="${TOOLCHAIN}"/bin/${ANDROID_TARGET_BINUTILS}-ar
 export AS="${TOOLCHAIN}"/bin/${ANDROID_TARGET_BINUTILS}-as
 export RANLIB="${TOOLCHAIN}"/bin/${ANDROID_TARGET_BINUTILS}-ranlib
diff --git a/phases/14-libiconv.sh b/phases/14-libiconv.sh
index b342d8e..4dfb67b 100755
--- a/phases/14-libiconv.sh
+++ b/phases/14-libiconv.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ echo -e "\n### Running configure"
 ./configure \
   --host=${ANDROID_TARGET} \
   --prefix="${INSTALL_PREFIX}" \
-  --disable-shared
+  --enable-shared \
+  --disable-static \
 
 echo -e "\n### Building"
 make -j${MAKE_JOBS}
diff --git a/phases/16-libxml2.sh b/phases/16-libxml2.sh
index 41d1802..b1b949c 100755
--- a/phases/16-libxml2.sh
+++ b/phases/16-libxml2.sh
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@ echo -e "\n### Running configure"
   --prefix="${INSTALL_PREFIX}" \
   --without-python \
   --without-lzma \
+  --with-icu \
   --disable-shared \
-  CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fPIC" `# required to remove unsupported text relocations` \
+  `# specify include dir to enable finding libiconv and ICU` \
+  `# -fPIC required to remove unsupported text relocations` \
+  CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -I${INSTALL_PREFIX}/include -fPIC" \
 
 echo -e "\n### Building"
 make -j${MAKE_JOBS}
diff --git a/phases/17-libxslt.sh b/phases/17-libxslt.sh
index eb7b780..86edc60 100755
--- a/phases/17-libxslt.sh
+++ b/phases/17-libxslt.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ echo -e "\n### Running configure"
   --with-libxml-prefix="${INSTALL_PREFIX}" \
   --without-crypto \
   --disable-shared \
-  CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fPIC" `# required to remove unsupported text relocations` \
+  `# specify include dir to enable finding libiconv and ICU (from libxml headers)` \
+  `# -fPIC required to remove unsupported text relocations` \
+  CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -I${INSTALL_PREFIX}/include -fPIC" \
 
 echo -e "\n### Building"
 make -j${MAKE_JOBS}
diff --git a/phases/40-gnustep-corebase.sh b/phases/40-gnustep-corebase.sh
index 930d351..a2c3bca 100755
--- a/phases/40-gnustep-corebase.sh
+++ b/phases/40-gnustep-corebase.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ echo -e "\n### Running configure"
 ./configure \
   --host=${ANDROID_TARGET} \
   --prefix="${INSTALL_PREFIX}" \
-  `# for some reason we need to manually specify the include dir` \
+  `# specify include dir to enable finding ICU` \
   CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -I${INSTALL_PREFIX}/include" \
   CPPFLAGS="${CPPFLAGS} -I${INSTALL_PREFIX}/include" \