diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 8b03e62977..7a3dc816fd 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ endif
 
 DISTCHECK_FLAGS = --with-all --with-ssl --with-doc=auto --with-pynut=app --with-nut_monitor=force
 DISTCHECK_LIGHT_FLAGS = --with-all=auto --with-ssl=auto --with-doc=auto --with-pynut=app --with-nut_monitor=force
+DISTCHECK_LIGHT_MAN_FLAGS = --with-all=auto --with-ssl=auto --with-doc=man --with-pynut=app --with-nut_monitor=force
 DISTCHECK_VALGRIND_FLAGS = --with-all=auto --with-ssl=auto --with-doc=skip --with-valgrind CXXFLAGS='$(CXXFLAGS) -g' CFLAGS='$(CFLAGS) -g' --with-pynut=app --with-nut_monitor=force
 
 # Note: this rule uses envvar DISTCHECK_FLAGS expanded at run-time
@@ -90,6 +91,9 @@ distcheck-light:
 memcheck distcheck-valgrind:
 	+$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) DISTCHECK_FLAGS="$(DISTCHECK_VALGRIND_FLAGS)" distcheck
 
+distcheck-light-man:
+	+$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) DISTCHECK_FLAGS="$(DISTCHECK_LIGHT_MAN_FLAGS)" distcheck
+
 # workaround the dist generated files that are also part of the distribution
 # Note that distcleancheck is disabled for now, while waiting for a proper
 # solution, that do not break older unix systems
diff --git a/NEWS.adoc b/NEWS.adoc
index acacd8d79e..31f94ad676 100644
--- a/NEWS.adoc
+++ b/NEWS.adoc
@@ -169,6 +169,20 @@ https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/milestone/11
 +
    NOTE: The `html-chunked` documents are currently still not installed.
 
+ - added support to `./configure --with-doc=man=dist-auto` to use distributed
+   manual page files if present; only fall back to build them if we can. [#2473]
+
+ - added a `make distcheck-light-man` recipe to require verification that the
+   manual page files can be built using the prepared "tarball" archive. [#2473]
+
+ - added a `common/Makefile.am` build product for a new internal library
+   `libcommonstr.la` which allows a smaller selection of helper methods
+   for tools like `nut-scanner` which do not need the full `libcommon.la`
+   nor `libcommonclient.la`. [#2478]
+
+ - build of `snmp-ups` and `netxml-ups` drivers now explicitly brings linker
+   dependency on chosen SSL libraries. [#2479]
+
  - brought keyword dictionaries of `nutconf` and `augeas` NUT configuration
    file parsers up to date; restored automated checks for `augeas` lenses.
    [issue #657, issue #2294]
diff --git a/common/Makefile.am b/common/Makefile.am
index a80dd14795..751176ef8e 100644
--- a/common/Makefile.am
+++ b/common/Makefile.am
@@ -47,11 +47,22 @@ $(top_builddir)/include/nut_version.h:
 
 libcommon_la_SOURCES = state.c str.c upsconf.c
 libcommonclient_la_SOURCES = state.c str.c
+
+# several other Makefiles include the two helpers common.c str.c (and
+# perhaps some other string-related code), so make them a library too;
+# note that LTLIBOBJS pulls in snprintf.c contents too.
+noinst_LTLIBRARIES += libcommonstr.la
+libcommonstr_la_SOURCES = str.c
+libcommonstr_la_CFLAGS = $(AM_CFLAGS) -DWITHOUT_LIBSYSTEMD=1
+libcommonstr_la_LIBADD = @LTLIBOBJS@ @BSDKVMPROCLIBS@
+
 if BUILDING_IN_TREE
   libcommon_la_SOURCES += common.c
+  libcommonstr_la_SOURCES += common.c
   libcommonclient_la_SOURCES += common.c
 else !BUILDING_IN_TREE
   nodist_libcommon_la_SOURCES = common.c
+  nodist_libcommonstr_la_SOURCES = common.c
   nodist_libcommonclient_la_SOURCES = common.c
   CLEANFILES += $(top_builddir)/common/common.c
   BUILT_SOURCES = common.c
@@ -62,6 +73,7 @@ if HAVE_STRPTIME
 else !HAVE_STRPTIME
   # fall back to NetBSD implem
   libcommon_la_SOURCES += strptime.c
+  libcommonstr_la_SOURCES += strptime.c
   libcommonclient_la_SOURCES += strptime.c
 endif !HAVE_STRPTIME
 
@@ -70,6 +82,7 @@ if HAVE_STRNLEN
 else !HAVE_STRNLEN
   # fall back to FreeBSD implem
   libcommon_la_SOURCES += strnlen.c
+  libcommonstr_la_SOURCES += strnlen.c
   libcommonclient_la_SOURCES += strnlen.c
 endif !HAVE_STRNLEN
 
@@ -78,6 +91,7 @@ if HAVE_STRSEP
 else !HAVE_STRSEP
   # fall back to simple implem
   libcommon_la_SOURCES += strsep.c
+  libcommonstr_la_SOURCES += strsep.c
   libcommonclient_la_SOURCES += strsep.c
 endif !HAVE_STRSEP
 
@@ -92,6 +106,7 @@ if HAVE_WINDOWS
   noinst_LTLIBRARIES += libnutwincompat.la
 
   libcommon_la_SOURCES += wincompat.c $(top_srcdir)/include/wincompat.h
+  libcommonstr_la_SOURCES += wincompat.c $(top_srcdir)/include/wincompat.h
   libcommonclient_la_SOURCES += wincompat.c $(top_srcdir)/include/wincompat.h
 endif HAVE_WINDOWS
 
@@ -112,6 +127,9 @@ if HAVE_LIBREGEX
   libcommon_la_CFLAGS += $(LIBREGEX_CFLAGS)
   libcommon_la_LIBADD += $(LIBREGEX_LIBS)
 
+  libcommonstr_la_CFLAGS += $(LIBREGEX_CFLAGS)
+  libcommonstr_la_LIBADD += $(LIBREGEX_LIBS)
+
   libcommonclient_la_CFLAGS += $(LIBREGEX_CFLAGS)
   libcommonclient_la_LIBADD += $(LIBREGEX_LIBS)
 endif HAVE_LIBREGEX
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 414e26ba65..f87f71e984 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2291,6 +2291,8 @@ fi
 NUT_REPORT_FEATURE([enable libltdl (Libtool dlopen abstraction) support], [${nut_with_libltdl}], [],
 					[WITH_LIBLTDL], [Define to enable libltdl (Libtool dlopen abstraction) support])
 
+dnl Explicitly report if we are building nut-scanner or not
+dnl since it requires libltdl
 if test x"${nut_with_libltdl}" = x"no" && test x"${nut_with_nut_scanner}" = x"yes"; then
     AC_MSG_ERROR([libltdl support was disabled or not found, but --with-nut-scanner was requested and requires it])
 fi
@@ -2686,6 +2688,9 @@ case "${nut_with_doc}" in
 	skip|all=skip)
 		nut_doc_build_list="man=skip html-single=skip html-chunked=skip pdf=skip"
 		;;
+	dist-auto) # Experimental, currently only for MANs: prefer disted files if present, auto otherwise
+		nut_doc_build_list="man=dist-auto html-single=dist-auto html-chunked=dist-auto pdf=dist-auto"
+		;;
 	no|all=no)
 		nut_doc_build_list=""
 		;;
@@ -2726,7 +2731,7 @@ for nut_doc_build_target in $nut_doc_build_list; do
 		;;
 	esac
 	case "${nut_doc_build_target_flag}" in
-	yes|no|auto|skip) ;;
+	yes|no|auto|skip|dist-auto) ;;
 	"") nut_doc_build_target_flag="yes" ;;
 	*)	rm -rf "${DOCTESTDIR}"
 		AC_MSG_ERROR([Invalid documentation format option: ${nut_doc_build_target}]) ;;
@@ -2817,25 +2822,41 @@ dnl not fail if we have no tools to generate it (so add to SKIP list).
 		;;
 
 	man*)
+		dnl Experimental support for --with-doc=man=dist-auto to prefer pre-disted docs if available, below
 		AC_MSG_CHECKING([if we can build ${nut_doc_build_target_base}])
 		can_build_doc_man=no
+		have_disted_doc_man=no
+		want_disted_doc_man=no
+		if test -s "${abs_srcdir}"/docs/man/snmp-ups.8 ; then
+			dnl Test that groff files exist (building from distributed tarball, not git repo)
+			have_disted_doc_man=yes
+		fi
+		if test x"${nut_doc_build_target}" = x"man=dist-auto" || test "${nut_doc_build_target_flag}" = "dist-auto"; then
+			want_disted_doc_man=yes
+		fi
 		if test "${nut_have_asciidoc}" = yes ; then
 			( cd "$DOCTESTDIR" && ${A2X} --format manpage --destination-dir=. --xsltproc-opts="--nonet" "${abs_srcdir}"/docs/man/snmp-ups.txt && test -s snmp-ups.8 ) && can_build_doc_man=yes
 			rm -f "${DOCTESTDIR}"/snmp-ups.8
 		fi
-		if test "${can_build_doc_man}" = yes ; then
+		if test "${want_disted_doc_man}" = yes && test "${have_disted_doc_man}" = yes ; then
+			AC_MSG_NOTICE([Requested, and can, install pre-built distributed copies of ${nut_doc_build_target_base} documentation])
+			DOC_SKIPBUILD_LIST="${DOC_SKIPBUILD_LIST} ${nut_doc_build_target_base}"
+			DOC_INSTALL_DISTED_MANS="yes"
+			dnl Avoid rebuilding existing build products due to their timestamp dependencies:
+			touch -r "${abs_srcdir}"/docs/man/Makefile.am "${abs_srcdir}"/docs/man/*.{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}* "${abs_srcdir}"/docs/man/*.{txt,xml,html,pdf} || true
+		else
+		  if test "${can_build_doc_man}" = yes ; then
 			AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
 			DOC_BUILD_LIST="${DOC_BUILD_LIST} ${nut_doc_build_target_base}"
-		else
+		  else
 			AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
 			if test "${nut_doc_build_target_flag}" = "yes" ; then
 				DOC_CANNOTBUILD_LIST="${DOC_CANNOTBUILD_LIST} ${nut_doc_build_target_base}"
 				AC_MSG_WARN([Unable to build ${nut_doc_build_target_base} documentation which you requested])
 			else
 				DOC_SKIPBUILD_LIST="${DOC_SKIPBUILD_LIST} ${nut_doc_build_target_base}"
-				if test "${nut_doc_build_target_flag}" = "auto" ; then
-dnl Test that groff files exist (building from distributed tarball, not git repo)
-					if test -s "${abs_srcdir}"/docs/man/snmp-ups.8 ; then
+				if test "${nut_doc_build_target_flag}" = "auto" || test "${nut_doc_build_target_flag}" = "dist-auto" ; then
+					if test "${have_disted_doc_man}" = yes ; then
 						AC_MSG_WARN([Unable to build ${nut_doc_build_target_base} documentation, but can install pre-built distributed copies])
 						DOC_INSTALL_DISTED_MANS="yes"
 					else
@@ -2843,6 +2864,7 @@ dnl Test that groff files exist (building from distributed tarball, not git repo
 					fi
 				fi  # Other variants include "no", "skip"...
 			fi
+		  fi
 		fi
 		;;
 
diff --git a/docs/configure.txt b/docs/configure.txt
index 623e5ec1cc..ba0b8349fb 100644
--- a/docs/configure.txt
+++ b/docs/configure.txt
@@ -255,10 +255,17 @@ Other values understood for this option are listed below:
 * A `--with-doc=no` quietly skips generation of all types of documentation,
   including manpages.
 
-* `--with-doc=skip` is used to configure some of the `make distcheck*`
+* A `--with-doc=skip` is used to configure some of the `make distcheck*`
   scenarios to re-use man page files built and distributed by the main
   build and not waste time on re-generation of those.
 
+* A `--with-doc=dist-auto` allows to use pre-distributed MAN pages if present
+  (should be in "tarball" release archives; should not be among Git-tracked
+  sources; may be left over from earlier builds in same workspace), or build
+  those if we can (the `auto` part). Practically this is implemented in detail
+  only for `--with-doc=man=dist-auto`, as we do not dist HTML and PDF products;
+  it is a placeholder for those to simplify the generic configuration calls.
+
 Multiple documentation format values can be specified, separated with comma.
 Each such value can be suffixed with `=yes` to require building of this one
 documentation format (abort configuration if tools are missing), `=auto` to
diff --git a/docs/nut.dict b/docs/nut.dict
index 45856ce90b..d3124d6f5d 100644
--- a/docs/nut.dict
+++ b/docs/nut.dict
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-personal_ws-1.1 en 3169 utf-8
+personal_ws-1.1 en 3171 utf-8
 AAC
 AAS
 ABI
@@ -2137,6 +2137,8 @@ libaugeas
 libavahi
 libc
 libcommon
+libcommonclient
+libcommonstr
 libcppunit
 libcrypto
 libcurl
diff --git a/drivers/Makefile.am b/drivers/Makefile.am
index d8db1d3661..797821d5d7 100644
--- a/drivers/Makefile.am
+++ b/drivers/Makefile.am
@@ -275,9 +275,20 @@ snmp_ups_CFLAGS = $(AM_CFLAGS)
 snmp_ups_CFLAGS += $(LIBNETSNMP_CFLAGS)
 snmp_ups_LDADD = $(LDADD_DRIVERS) $(LIBNETSNMP_LIBS) -lm
 
+if WITH_SSL
+  snmp_ups_CFLAGS += $(LIBSSL_CFLAGS)
+  snmp_ups_LDADD += $(LIBSSL_LIBS)
+endif
+
 # NEON XML/HTTP
 netxml_ups_SOURCES = netxml-ups.c mge-xml.c
 netxml_ups_LDADD = $(LDADD_DRIVERS) $(LIBNEON_LIBS)
+netxml_ups_CFLAGS = $(AM_CFLAGS)
+
+if WITH_SSL
+  netxml_ups_CFLAGS += $(LIBSSL_CFLAGS)
+  netxml_ups_LDADD += $(LIBSSL_LIBS)
+endif
 
 # Powerman
 powerman_pdu_SOURCES = powerman-pdu.c
diff --git a/m4/ax_c_pragmas.m4 b/m4/ax_c_pragmas.m4
index d274b129bc..5d175082bf 100644
--- a/m4/ax_c_pragmas.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_c_pragmas.m4
@@ -146,6 +146,33 @@ dnl ###        [CFLAGS="${CFLAGS_SAVED} -Werror=pragmas -Werror=unknown-warning"
   ]) dnl Special pragma support testing for clang
 
   dnl Test common pragmas for GCC (and compatible) compilers
+  AC_CACHE_CHECK([for pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wpedantic"],
+    [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic],
+    [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
+      [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[void func(void) {
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wpedantic"
+}
+]], [])],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic=yes],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic=no]
+    )]
+  )
+  AS_IF([test "$ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic" = "yes"],[
+    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_PRAGMA_GCC_DIAGNOSTIC_IGNORED_PEDANTIC], 1, [define if your compiler has #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wpedantic"])
+  ])
+
+  AC_CACHE_CHECK([for pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wpedantic" (outside functions)],
+    [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic_besidefunc],
+    [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
+      [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wpedantic"]], [])],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic_besidefunc=yes],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic_besidefunc=no]
+    )]
+  )
+  AS_IF([test "$ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_pedantic_besidefunc" = "yes"],[
+    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_PRAGMA_GCC_DIAGNOSTIC_IGNORED_PEDANTIC_BESIDEFUNC], 1, [define if your compiler has #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wpedantic" (outside functions)])
+  ])
+
   AC_CACHE_CHECK([for pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wunused-function"],
     [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_unused_function],
     [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
@@ -662,6 +689,33 @@ dnl ###        [CFLAGS="${CFLAGS_SAVED} -Werror=pragmas -Werror=unknown-warning"
     AC_DEFINE([HAVE_PRAGMA_GCC_DIAGNOSTIC_IGNORED_EXTRA_SEMI_STMT_BESIDEFUNC], 1, [define if your compiler has #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wextra-semi-stmt" (outside functions)])
   ])
 
+  AC_CACHE_CHECK([for pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Waddress"],
+    [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address],
+    [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
+      [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[void func(void) {
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Waddress"
+}
+]], [])],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address=yes],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address=no]
+    )]
+  )
+  AS_IF([test "$ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address" = "yes"],[
+    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_PRAGMA_GCC_DIAGNOSTIC_IGNORED_ADDRESS], 1, [define if your compiler has #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Waddress"])
+  ])
+
+  AC_CACHE_CHECK([for pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Waddress" (outside functions)],
+    [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address_besidefunc],
+    [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
+      [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Waddress"]], [])],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address_besidefunc=yes],
+      [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address_besidefunc=no]
+    )]
+  )
+  AS_IF([test "$ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_address_besidefunc" = "yes"],[
+    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_PRAGMA_GCC_DIAGNOSTIC_IGNORED_ADDRESS_BESIDEFUNC], 1, [define if your compiler has #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Waddress" (outside functions)])
+  ])
+
   AC_CACHE_CHECK([for pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wcast-align"],
     [ax_cv__pragma__gcc__diags_ignored_cast_align],
     [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
diff --git a/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am b/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am
index db2e645b09..05f0a6e95e 100644
--- a/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am
+++ b/tools/nut-scanner/Makefile.am
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ $(NUT_SCANNER_DEPS): dummy
 
 # Make sure out-of-dir dependencies exist (especially when dev-building parts):
 $(top_builddir)/include/nut_version.h \
-$(top_builddir)/common/libcommonclient.la \
+$(top_builddir)/common/libcommonstr.la \
 $(top_builddir)/common/libcommon.la: dummy
 	+@cd $(@D) && $(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) $(@F)
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ libnutscan_la_LIBADD = $(NETLIBS)
 if WITH_LIBLTDL
 libnutscan_la_LIBADD += $(LIBLTDL_LIBS)
 endif WITH_LIBLTDL
-libnutscan_la_LIBADD += $(top_builddir)/common/libcommonclient.la
+
 if HAVE_SEMAPHORE_LIBS
 # Are additional libraries needed for semaphore support?
 libnutscan_la_LIBADD += $(SEMLIBS)
@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ libnutscan_la_LDFLAGS += -export-symbols-regex '^(nutscan_|nut_debug_level|s_ups
 libnutscan_la_CFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/clients -I$(top_srcdir)/include \
 			$(LIBLTDL_CFLAGS) -I$(top_srcdir)/drivers
 
+libnutscan_la_LIBADD += $(top_builddir)/common/libcommonstr.la
+
 nut_scanner_SOURCES = nut-scanner.c
 nut_scanner_CFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/clients -I$(top_srcdir)/include
 nut_scanner_LDADD = libnutscan.la