diff --git a/libguile/gc-malloc.c b/libguile/gc-malloc.c
index 7879212bf..69aeebf55 100644
--- a/libguile/gc-malloc.c
+++ b/libguile/gc-malloc.c
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ scm_realloc (void *mem, size_t size)
   if (ptr || size == 0)
     return ptr;
 
-  /* Time is hard: trigger a full, ``stop-the-world'' GC, and try again.  */
-  GC_gcollect_and_unmap ();
+  /* Time is hard; attempt to reclaim memory before trying again.  */
+  gc_collect (SCM_I_CURRENT_THREAD->mutator, GC_COLLECTION_COMPACTING);
 
   ptr = do_realloc (mem, size);
   if (ptr)
diff --git a/libguile/gc.h b/libguile/gc.h
index 09ba49149..cd6d8ae2c 100644
--- a/libguile/gc.h
+++ b/libguile/gc.h
@@ -135,14 +135,8 @@ SCM_API char *scm_gc_strndup (const char *str, size_t n, const char *what)
 
 #define scm_gc_typed_calloc(t) ((t *) scm_gc_calloc (sizeof (t), #t))
 
-#ifdef BUILDING_LIBGUILE
-#include "libguile/bdw-gc.h"
-#define SCM_GC_MALLOC(size) GC_MALLOC (size)
-#define SCM_GC_MALLOC_POINTERLESS(size) GC_MALLOC_ATOMIC (size)
-#else
 #define SCM_GC_MALLOC(size) scm_gc_malloc (size, NULL)
 #define SCM_GC_MALLOC_POINTERLESS(size) scm_gc_malloc_pointerless (size, NULL)
-#endif
 
 
 SCM_INLINE SCM scm_cell (scm_t_bits car, scm_t_bits cdr);
diff --git a/libguile/loader.c b/libguile/loader.c
index 2bd66d924..09bd166ec 100644
--- a/libguile/loader.c
+++ b/libguile/loader.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright 2001,2009-2015,2017-2018,2021
+/* Copyright 2001,2009-2015,2017-2018,2021,2025
      Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 
    This file is part of Guile.
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #endif
 
+#include "bdw-gc.h"
 #include "boolean.h"
 #include "bytevectors.h"
 #include "elf.h"
diff --git a/libguile/scmsigs.c b/libguile/scmsigs.c
index 9cd16ea42..697cc7072 100644
--- a/libguile/scmsigs.c
+++ b/libguile/scmsigs.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright 1995-2002, 2004, 2006-2009, 2011, 2013-2014, 2017-2018, 2023-2024
+/* Copyright 1995-2002, 2004, 2006-2009, 2011, 2013-2014, 2017-2018, 2023-2025
      Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 
    This file is part of Guile.
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 #include <full-write.h>
 
 #include "async.h"
+#include "bdw-gc.h"
 #include "boolean.h"
 #include "dynwind.h"
 #include "eval.h"
diff --git a/libguile/weak-vector.c b/libguile/weak-vector.c
index b087891f6..533a07ff0 100644
--- a/libguile/weak-vector.c
+++ b/libguile/weak-vector.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright 1995-1996,1998,2000-2001,2003,2006,2008-2014,2018
+/* Copyright 1995-1996,1998,2000-2001,2003,2006,2008-2014,2018,2025
      Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 
    This file is part of Guile.
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+#include "bdw-gc.h"
 #include "boolean.h"
 #include "extensions.h"
 #include "gsubr.h"