Nayef Aguerd scored from a set piece in the first half to give the London side breathing room in the relegation battle.
The win took West Ham to 14th (27 points) in the league standings.
The teams were 19th and 20th in the table before kickoff. Southampton remained rooted to the bottom, three points from the safety zone.
West Ham took the lead in the 25th minute when Aguerd rose highest to head home a free kick but they had an agonising wait as VAR took several minutes to check if the Moroccan defender was onside before awarding the goal.
The away side had more possession but the goal lit a spark in West Ham and Jarrod Bowen nearly doubled the lead on a counter-attack before halftime when his shot beat the keeper but came off the crossbar.
At the other end, Lukasz Fabianski was tested several times by Southampton but the Polish goalkeeper was up to the task, making calm saves to keep a clean sheet, although Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu’s late header struck his crossbar.
Southampton lacked creativity in attack, however, as West Ham — who have a game in hand over their relegation rivals — moved up five places and provided welcome relief for their manager David Moyes.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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