diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 562b19afe64..ec1418b99e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -900,10 +900,9 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE([gcc-warnings],
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([check-lisp-object-type],
   [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-check-lisp-object-type],
-     [Enable compile-time checks for the Lisp_Object data type,
-      which can catch some bugs during development.
-      The default is "no" if --enable-gcc-warnings is "no".])])
-if test "${enable_check_lisp_object_type-$gl_gcc_warnings}" != "no"; then
+     [Enable compile time checks for the Lisp_Object data type,
+      which can catch some bugs during development.])])
+if test "$enable_check_lisp_object_type" = yes; then
   AC_DEFINE([CHECK_LISP_OBJECT_TYPE], 1,
     [Define to enable compile-time checks for the Lisp_Object data type.])
 fi
diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index 1382f96a374..1ab1930ea7c 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@ interpreter or modules that it uses.  If your platform supports it you
 can enable it when configuring, e.g., './configure CFLAGS="-g3 -O2
 -mmpx -fcheck-pointer-bounds"' on Intel MPX platforms.
 
+** Emacs now normally uses a pointer type instead of an integer type
+for the fundamental word in the Emacs Lisp interpreter, to help
+catch typos and support -fcheck-pointer-bounds.  The 'configure'
+option --enable-check-lisp-object-type is therefore no longer as
+useful and so is no longer enabled by default in developer builds,
+to reduce differences between developer and production builds.
+
 
 * Startup Changes in Emacs 27.1