diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c3cd2c77f..ea6e00fb6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 include config.mk
 include filesystem.mk
 
-HOSTCC = $(CC)
-HOSTCXX = $(CXX)
+HOSTCC := $(CC)
+HOSTCXX := $(CXX)
 HOSTCFLAGS = $(CFLAGS)
 HOSTCXXFLAGS = $(CXXFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/tools/knarc/Makefile b/tools/knarc/Makefile
index 336fad3f9..2e851af6c 100644
--- a/tools/knarc/Makefile
+++ b/tools/knarc/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-CXX ?= g++-9
+CXX := g++
 
 CXXFLAGS := -std=c++17 -O2 -Wall -Wno-switch -lstdc++fs