diff --git a/pkgs/applications/office/antiword/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/office/antiword/default.nix
index 5da7d84905bb5fd..09e387cb0554c00 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/office/antiword/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/office/antiword/default.nix
@@ -11,11 +11,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec{
 
   prePatch = ''
     sed -i -e "s|/usr/local/bin|$out/bin|g" -e "s|/usr/share|$out/share|g" Makefile antiword.h
-    substituteInPlace Makefile --replace "gcc" "cc"
+    substituteInPlace Makefile --replace "gcc" '$(CC)'
   '';
 
   patches = [ ./10_fix_buffer_overflow_wordole_c_CVE-2014-8123.patch ];
 
+  makeFlags = [
+    "CC=${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc"
+  ];
+
   installTargets = [ "global_install" ];
 
   meta = {