diff -u python2.7-2.7.5/debian/changelog python2.7-2.7.5/debian/changelog
--- python2.7-2.7.5/debian/changelog
+++ python2.7-2.7.5/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,20 @@
+python2.7 (2.7.5-8+rpi2) jessie-staging; urgency=low
+
+  * Edit debian/control manually rather than regenerating it to avoid breaking
+    multiarch stuff.
+  * Fix typo in debian/rules that was breaking builds of reverse dependencies.
+
+ -- Peter Michael Green <plugwash@raspbian.org>  Thu, 26 Sep 2013 15:38:13 +0000
+
+python2.7 (2.7.5-8+rpi1) jessie-staging; urgency=low
+
+  * add dependencies on gcc-4.8 and g++-4.8 to libpython-dev to prevent build
+    failures in reverse dependencies.
+  * Use gcc-4.8 explicitly rather than a >= dependency on gcc since the 4.8
+    default hasn't migrated to testing yet.
+
+ -- Peter Michael Green <plugwash@raspbian.org>  Tue, 24 Sep 2013 18:44:15 +0000
+
 python2.7 (2.7.5-8) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * Update to 20130917, taken from the 2.7 branch.
diff -u python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control
--- python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control
+++ python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   libgpm2 [linux-any],
   mime-support, netbase, bzip2,
   libdb5.1-dev, libgdbm-dev, python, help2man,
-  gcc (>= 4:4.8) [amd64 armel armhf i386 x32 kfreebsd-any hurd-any],
+  gcc-4.8, g++-4.8,
   xvfb, xauth
 Build-Depends-Indep: python-sphinx
 Build-Conflicts: tcl8.4-dev, tk8.4-dev, python2.7-xml, python-xml, autoconf2.13, python-cxx-dev
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 
 Package: python2.7
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: allowed
 Priority: standard
 Depends: python2.7-minimal (= ${binary:Version}), libpython2.7-stdlib (= ${binary:Version}), mime-support, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
 Suggests: python2.7-doc, binutils
@@ -38,7 +37,6 @@
 
 Package: libpython2.7-stdlib
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: same
 Priority: standard
 Depends: libpython2.7-minimal (= ${binary:Version}), mime-support, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
 Provides: python2.7-cjkcodecs, python2.7-ctypes, python2.7-elementtree, python2.7-celementtree, python2.7-wsgiref, python2.7-profiler, python2.7-argparse, python-argparse
@@ -53,7 +51,6 @@
 
 Package: python2.7-minimal
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: allowed
 Priority: standard
 Pre-Depends: ${shlibs:Pre-Depends}
 Depends: libpython2.7-minimal (= ${binary:Version}), ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
@@ -69,7 +66,6 @@
 
 Package: libpython2.7-minimal
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: same
 Priority: standard
 Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
 Recommends: libpython2.7-stdlib
@@ -82,7 +78,6 @@
 
 Package: libpython2.7
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: same
 Section: libs
 Priority: standard
 Pre-Depends: multiarch-support
@@ -105,7 +100,6 @@
 
 Package: python2.7-dev
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: allowed
 Depends: python2.7 (= ${binary:Version}), libpython2.7-dev (= ${binary:Version}), libpython2.7 (= ${binary:Version}), libexpat1-dev, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
 Recommends: libc6-dev | libc-dev
 Replaces: python2.7 (<< 2.7-3)
@@ -119,9 +113,8 @@
 Package: libpython2.7-dev
 Section: libdevel
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: same
 Pre-Depends: multiarch-support
-Depends: libpython2.7-stdlib (= ${binary:Version}), libpython2.7 (= ${binary:Version}), libexpat1-dev, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
+Depends: libpython2.7-stdlib (= ${binary:Version}), libpython2.7 (= ${binary:Version}), libexpat1-dev, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}, gcc-4.8, g++-4.8
 Replaces: python2.7 (<< 2.7-3), python2.7-dev (<< 2.7.3-10), python2.7-minimal (<< 2.7.3-10)
 Recommends: libc6-dev | libc-dev
 Description: Header files and a static library for Python (v2.7)
@@ -179,7 +172,6 @@
 Package: python2.7-dbg
 Section: debug
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: allowed
 Priority: extra
 Depends: python2.7 (= ${binary:Version}), libpython2.7-dbg (= ${binary:Version}), ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
 Suggests: python-gdbm-dbg, python-tk-dbg
@@ -196,7 +188,6 @@
 Package: libpython2.7-dbg
 Section: debug
 Architecture: any
-Multi-Arch: same
 Priority: extra
 Pre-Depends: multiarch-support
 Depends: libpython2.7-stdlib (= ${binary:Version}), ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}, python
diff -u python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control.in python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control.in
--- python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control.in
+++ python2.7-2.7.5/debian/control.in
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   libgpm2 [linux-any],
   mime-support, netbase, bzip2,
   libdb5.1-dev, libgdbm-dev, python@bd_qual@, help2man,
-  gcc (>= 4:4.8) [amd64 armel armhf i386 x32 kfreebsd-any hurd-any],
+  gcc-4.8, g++-4.8,
   xvfb, xauth
 Build-Depends-Indep: python-sphinx
 Build-Conflicts: tcl8.4-dev, tk8.4-dev, @PVER@-xml, python-xml, autoconf2.13, python-cxx-dev
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
 Architecture: any
 Multi-Arch: same
 Pre-Depends: multiarch-support
-Depends: lib@PVER@-stdlib (= ${binary:Version}), lib@PVER@ (= ${binary:Version}), libexpat1-dev, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
+Depends: lib@PVER@-stdlib (= ${binary:Version}), lib@PVER@ (= ${binary:Version}), libexpat1-dev, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}, gcc-4.8, g++-4.8
 Replaces: @PVER@ (<< 2.7-3), @PVER@-dev (<< 2.7.3-10), @PVER@-minimal (<< 2.7.3-10)
 Recommends: libc6-dev | libc-dev
 Description: Header files and a static library for Python (v@VER@)
diff -u python2.7-2.7.5/debian/rules python2.7-2.7.5/debian/rules
--- python2.7-2.7.5/debian/rules
+++ python2.7-2.7.5/debian/rules
@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@
   ma_filter = grep -v '^Multi-Arch:'
 endif
 
-CC = $(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)-gcc
+CC = $(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)-gcc-4.8
+CXX= $(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)-g++-4.8
 
 DPKG_CFLAGS  := $(shell dpkg-buildflags --get CPPFLAGS; dpkg-buildflags --get CFLAGS)
 DPKG_LDFLAGS := $(shell dpkg-buildflags --get LDFLAGS)
@@ -313,7 +314,7 @@
 	rm -rf $(buildd_shared)
 	mkdir -p $(buildd_shared)
 	cd $(buildd_shared) && \
-	  CC="$(CC)" CFLAGS="$(OPT_CFLAGS)" LDFLAGS="$(DPKG_LDFLAGS)" \
+	  CC="$(CC)" CXX="$(CXX)" CFLAGS="$(OPT_CFLAGS)" LDFLAGS="$(DPKG_LDFLAGS)" \
 	    $(config_site) \
 	    ../configure \
 		--enable-shared \