All 3 of the following machines have this problem.
Here's the output of 'emerge info' from each machine (cut-and-pasted):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------



bartok *ROOT* /root [1]>emerge info
Portage 2.0.48-r5 (default-x86-1.4, gcc-3.2.3, glibc-2.3.2-r1)
=================================================================
System uname: 2.4.20-gentoo-r5 i586 AMD-K6(tm) 3D processor
GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://gentoo.oregonstate.edu http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /var/qmail/control /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb /usr/kde/3.1/share/config /usr/share/config"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/env.d"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
DISTDIR="/scratch/tmp/gentoo"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY=""
USE="apm foomaticdb mad berkdb tetex esd x86 oss 3dnow arts avi crypt cups encode gdbm gif gpm gtk imlib java jpeg kde gnome libg++ libwww mikmod mmx motif mozilla mpeg ncurses nls oggvorbis opengl pam pdflib perl png python qt quicktime readline samba sdl slang spell ssl svga tcltk tcpd truetype X xml2 xmms xv zlib"
COMPILER="gcc3"
CHOST="i586-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=k6-2 -O3 -pipe"
CXXFLAGS="-march=k6-2 -O3 -pipe"
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86"
MAKEOPTS="-j2"
AUTOCLEAN="yes"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"
FEATURES="sandbox ccache"

bartok *ROOT* /root [2]>



---------------------------------- ALSO --------------------------------------



holst *ROOT* /root [1]>emerge info
Portage 2.0.48-r5 (default-x86-1.4, gcc-3.2.3, glibc-2.3.2-r1)
=================================================================
System uname: 2.4.20-gentoo-r2 i686 Pentium III (Coppermine)
GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://gentoo.oregonstate.edu http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /var/qmail/control /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb /usr/kde/3.1/share/config /usr/share/config"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/env.d"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
DISTDIR="/scratch/tmp/gentoo"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY=""
USE="apm foomaticdb mad gtkhtml alsa berkdb tetex bonobo guile esd x86 oss 3dnow arts avi crypt cups encode gdbm gif gpm gtk imlib java jpeg kde gnome libg++ libwww mikmod mmx motif mozilla mpeg ncurses nls oggvorbis opengl pam pdflib perl png python qt quicktime readline samba sdl slang spell ssl svga tcltk tcpd truetype X xml2 xmms xv zlib"
COMPILER="gcc3"
CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=pentium3 -O3 -pipe"
CXXFLAGS="-march=pentium3 -O3 -pipe"
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86"
MAKEOPTS="-j2"
AUTOCLEAN="yes"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"
FEATURES="sandbox ccache"

holst *ROOT* /root [2]>




---------------------------------- ALSO --------------------------------------



bach *ROOT* /root [1]>emerge info
Portage 2.0.48-r5 (default-x86-1.4, gcc-3.2.3, glibc-2.3.2-r1)
=================================================================
System uname: 2.6.0-test3 i686 Pentium III (Katmai)
GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://gentoo.oregonstate.edu http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /var/qmail/control /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb /usr/kde/3.1/share/config /usr/share/config"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/env.d"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
DISTDIR="/scratch/tmp/gentoo"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY=""
USE="apm foomaticdb mad gtkhtml berkdb tetex bonobo guile postgres esd x86 oss 3dnow alsa arts avi crypt cups dga dvd encode gdbm gif gpm gtk imlib java jpeg kde gnome libg++ libwww mikmod mmx motif mozilla mpeg ncurses nls oggvorbis opengl pam pdflib perl png python qt quicktime readline samba sdl slang spell ssl svga tcltk tcpd truetype X xml2 xmms xv zlib"
COMPILER="gcc3"
CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=pentium3 -O2 -pipe"
CXXFLAGS="-march=pentium3 -O2 -pipe"
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86"
MAKEOPTS="-j2"
AUTOCLEAN="yes"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"
FEATURES="sandbox ccache"

bach *ROOT* /root [2]>