diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/common.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/common.nix
index ea2f3b6d140..3006ff49013 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/common.nix
@@ -143,7 +143,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ({
 
     configureScript="`pwd`/../$sourceRoot/configure"
 
-    makeFlags="$makeFlags BUILD_LDFLAGS=-Wl,-rpath,${stdenv.gcc.libc}/lib"
+    ${stdenv.lib.optionalString (stdenv.gcc.libc != null)
+      ''makeFlags="$makeFlags BUILD_LDFLAGS=-Wl,-rpath,${stdenv.gcc.libc}/lib"''
+    }
 
     ${preConfigure}
   '';