diff --git a/news/5607-patchelf-0.18 b/news/5607-patchelf-0.18
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..09fedf0944
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/5607-patchelf-0.18
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+### Enhancements
+
+* <news item>
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+* Limit `patchelf` to `<0.18`. (#5607)
+
+### Deprecations
+
+* <news item>
+
+### Docs
+
+* <news item>
+
+### Other
+
+* <news item>
diff --git a/recipe/meta.yaml b/recipe/meta.yaml
index 7bb7c812bc..895e81aafb 100644
--- a/recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -42,7 +42,10 @@ requirements:
     - menuinst >=2
     - packaging
     - patch >=2.6                  # [not win]
-    - patchelf                     # [linux]
+    # Cap to avoid bug where ELF load command is garbled.
+    # xref: https://github.com/conda/conda-build/issues/4881
+    # xref: https://github.com/NixOS/patchelf/issues/492
+    - patchelf <0.18               # [linux]
     - pkginfo
     - psutil
     - py-lief