problem with 64 bit binutils (32bit seems ok)

[me]

The following two-liner ie
#========
.int gdt
gdt:
#========
assembled with "as test.s; objcopy -O binary a.out a.com; hte a.com"

gives "00000000 00 00 00 00" on my phenom X3
under both Crunchbang linux 64bit 
(binutils both downloaded as package and also compiled from gnu sources)
and Desktopbsd 64bit 
(binutils included with distro)

Under puppy linux and fedora 9 (both 32bit) on the same phenom
x3 I got "00000000 04 00 00 00" which looks right.

I also checked on my PIII running antix linux (32bit)
and it also gives "00000000 04 00 00 00"

The 64bit version of binutils seems to not do forward referencing.
Can someone please advice on this inconsistency/confirm this seeming
bug.
Thx