diff --git a/libguile/Makefile.am b/libguile/Makefile.am
index 21ea143a5..929c0ba63 100644
--- a/libguile/Makefile.am
+++ b/libguile/Makefile.am
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ noinst_LTLIBRARIES =
 include $(top_srcdir)/am/snarf
 include lightening/lightening.am
 include whippet/embed.am
+WHIPPET_IMPL_CFLAGS += $(GCC_CFLAGS)
 
 WHIPPET_EMBEDDER_H = $(srcdir)/whippet-embedder.h