diff --git a/libguile/Makefile.am b/libguile/Makefile.am
index ea989645b..20c179520 100644
--- a/libguile/Makefile.am
+++ b/libguile/Makefile.am
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ guile_filter_doc_snarfage_SOURCES = c-tokenize.c
 c-tokenize.$(OBJEXT): c-tokenize.c
 	$(AM_V_GEN) \
 	if [ "$(cross_compiling)" = "yes" ]; then \
-		$(CC_FOR_BUILD) $(DEFS) $(AM_CPPFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<; \
+		$(CC_FOR_BUILD) -c -o $@ $<; \
 	else \
 		$(COMPILE) -c -o $@ $<; \
 	fi