diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/memtester/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/memtester/default.nix
index 2663f3b852a6..d34fb939822d 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/memtester/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/memtester/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "memtester-${version}";
   version = "4.3.0";
 
+  preConfigure = ''
+    echo "$CC" > conf-cc
+    echo "$CC" > conf-ld
+  '';
+
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "http://pyropus.ca/software/memtester/old-versions/memtester-${version}.tar.gz";
     sha256 = "127xymmyzb9r6dxqrwd69v7gf8csv8kv7fjvagbglf3wfgyy5pzr";