diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 15c81ecf..fa200ddb 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ ADDLIB+=ipx_ntop.o ipx_pton.o
 #options for mpls
 ADDLIB+=mpls_ntop.o mpls_pton.o
 
-CC = gcc
-HOSTCC = gcc
+CC := gcc
+HOSTCC ?= $(CC)
 DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE
 # Turn on transparent support for LFS
 DEFINES += -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE