gcc v.11.3.0 failing - possible cause gcc or libreadline.a?

[Fergus Daly]

In a gcc build script terminating with the instruction
    gcc -w -static -o myexe -O3 ./myarchive.a -lreadline -lncurses -lm
I have suddenly started getting very many instances of both of
    ld: /usr/src/debug/readline-8.2-2/terminal.c:nn various: undefined reference to `{various}'
    ld: /usr/src/debug/readline-8.2-2/display.c:nn various: undefined reference to `{various}'
and the build fails.
It's a while since I attempted this build of myexe (myarchive has been unaltered for years) and the attempt is triggered by a reported bug in gcc -pg after update that has been corrected.
I don't know whether it is a change in readline (libreadline.a) or gcc that has possibly caused the glitch (and obviously I cannot and do not expect anybody to debug my build for me) but is this glitch familiar to anybody through current or previous experience, or by appearance, that means you could point to cause or possible cause?
Thank you!