binutils 2.39 added new configure options for ld [1]. In particular, --enable-default-execstack=no "will stop the creation of an executable stack simply because an input file is missing a .note.GNU-stack section, even on architectures where this behaviour is the default".

Although the ELF linker now generates a warning message in such a case [1], you might want to set this option considering it would be even safer to finally get rid of this dangerous default behaviour that has a strong track record of producing undesired weakened binaries. In other words, an executable stack is such a hazard and an exception nowadays that it should always be explicitly requested when really needed, with `-z execstack`, and not happen by accident just because an object built from assembler source is missing the GNU-stack note due to an oversight.

[1] https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;a=blob_plain;f=ld/NEWS;hb=refs/tags/binutils-2_39