diff --git a/src/Rules.LXifort.mk b/src/Rules.LXifort.mk
index 0a7b094f2adc56f373a6292914c2afe3b7e72eda..48b9c5c99e0d6f784f892b511f153f4cee506e0c 100644
--- a/src/Rules.LXifort.mk
+++ b/src/Rules.LXifort.mk
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ endif
 
 #
 #
-CC = gcc
+CC ?= gcc
 FC = ifort
 ifeq "$(VER_MPI)" "MPIAUTO"
 ifneq "$(findstring TAU,$(XYZ))" ""