diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix
index 4a8babfd630..d6347798053 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   preBuild = ''
     # do not set sticky bit in /nix/store 
     substituteInPlace Makefile --replace ' -o root' ' ' --replace 111 755 --replace 4755 0755
-    makeFlags="DESTROOT=$out CC=cc"
+    # do not strip during install, broken on cross and we'll do ourselves as needed
+    substituteInPlace Makefile --replace ' -s cron' ' cron'
+    makeFlags="DESTROOT=$out CC=$CC"
 
     # We want to ignore the $glibc/include/paths.h definition of
     # sendmail path.