Based on a modified Darcy-Brinkman-Maxwell model, a linear stability analysis of a Maxwell fluid in a horizontal porous layer heated from below by a constant flux is carried out. The non-oscillatory instability and oscillatory instability with different hydrodynamic boundaries such as rigid and free surfaces at the bottom are studied. Compared with the rigid surface cases, onset of fluid motion due to non-oscillatory instability and oscillatory instability is found to occur both more easily for the system with a free bottom surface. The critical Rayleigh number for onset of fluid motion due to non-oscillatory instability is lower with a constant flux heating bottom than with an isothermal heating bottom, but the result due to oscillatory instability is in contrast. The effects of the Darcy number, the relaxation time, and the Prandtl number on the critical Rayleigh number are also discussed.