diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 9e18412e8..0f20aef5c 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ matrix:
     - <<: *test-macos
       osx_image: xcode10.1
       env:
-        - CC="/Applications/Xcode-10.1.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/clang -isysroot /Applications/Xcode-10.1.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS12.1.sdk"
+        - CC="/Applications/Xcode-10.1.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/clang"
         - CFLAGS="-O2 -Wno-macro-redefined -isysroot /Applications/Xcode-10.1.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS12.1.sdk -arch arm64 -miphoneos-version-min=10.0"
         - BTYPE="TARGET=ARMV8 BINARY=64 HOSTCC=clang NOFORTRAN=1"
 
diff --git a/Makefile.prebuild b/Makefile.prebuild
index a366004a1..b00f13368 100644
--- a/Makefile.prebuild
+++ b/Makefile.prebuild
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ all: getarch_2nd
 	./getarch_2nd  1 >> $(TARGET_CONF)
 
 config.h : c_check f_check getarch
-	perl ./c_check $(TARGET_MAKE) $(TARGET_CONF) $(CC) $(TARGET_FLAGS)
+	perl ./c_check $(TARGET_MAKE) $(TARGET_CONF) $(CC) $(TARGET_FLAGS) $(CFLAGS)
 ifneq ($(ONLY_CBLAS), 1)
 	perl ./f_check $(TARGET_MAKE) $(TARGET_CONF) $(FC) $(TARGET_FLAGS)
 else
@@ -59,13 +59,13 @@ endif
 
 
 getarch : getarch.c cpuid.S dummy $(CPUIDEMU)
-	$(HOSTCC) $(CFLAGS) $(EXFLAGS) -o $(@F) getarch.c cpuid.S $(CPUIDEMU)
+	$(HOSTCC) $(HOST_CFLAGS) $(EXFLAGS) -o $(@F) getarch.c cpuid.S $(CPUIDEMU)
 
 getarch_2nd : getarch_2nd.c config.h dummy
 ifndef TARGET_CORE
-	$(HOSTCC) -I. $(CFLAGS) -o $(@F) getarch_2nd.c
+	$(HOSTCC) -I. $(HOST_CFLAGS) -o $(@F) getarch_2nd.c
 else
-	$(HOSTCC) -I. $(CFLAGS) -DBUILD_KERNEL -o $(@F) getarch_2nd.c
+	$(HOSTCC) -I. $(HOST_CFLAGS) -DBUILD_KERNEL -o $(@F) getarch_2nd.c
 endif
 
 dummy:
diff --git a/Makefile.system b/Makefile.system
index c0e45515f..cf9e9bafa 100644
--- a/Makefile.system
+++ b/Makefile.system
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ ifndef GOTOBLAS_MAKEFILE
 export GOTOBLAS_MAKEFILE = 1
 
 # Generating Makefile.conf and config.h
-DUMMY := $(shell $(MAKE) -C $(TOPDIR) -f Makefile.prebuild CC="$(CC)" FC="$(FC)" HOSTCC="$(HOSTCC)" CFLAGS="$(GETARCH_FLAGS)" BINARY=$(BINARY) USE_OPENMP=$(USE_OPENMP) TARGET_CORE=$(TARGET_CORE) ONLY_CBLAS=$(ONLY_CBLAS) TARGET=$(TARGET) all)
+DUMMY := $(shell $(MAKE) -C $(TOPDIR) -f Makefile.prebuild CC="$(CC)" FC="$(FC)" HOSTCC="$(HOSTCC)" HOST_CFLAGS="$(GETARCH_FLAGS)" CFLAGS="$(CFLAGS)" BINARY=$(BINARY) USE_OPENMP=$(USE_OPENMP) TARGET_CORE=$(TARGET_CORE) ONLY_CBLAS=$(ONLY_CBLAS) TARGET=$(TARGET) all)
 
 ifndef TARGET_CORE
 include $(TOPDIR)/Makefile.conf
diff --git a/c_check b/c_check
index 555b2eccf..c7899c84f 100644
--- a/c_check
+++ b/c_check
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@ $binary = $ENV{"BINARY"};
 $makefile = shift(@ARGV);
 $config   = shift(@ARGV);
 
-$compiler_name = join(" ", @ARGV);
+$compiler_name = shift(@ARGV);
+$flags = join(" ", @ARGV);
 
 # First, we need to know the target OS and compiler name
 
-$data = `$compiler_name -E ctest.c`;
+$data = `$compiler_name $flags -E ctest.c`;
 
 if ($?) {
     printf STDERR "C Compiler ($compiler_name) is something wrong.\n";
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ if ($defined == 0) {
 
 # Do again
 
-$data = `$compiler_name -E ctest.c`;
+$data = `$compiler_name $flags -E ctest.c`;
 
 if ($?) {
     printf STDERR "C Compiler ($compiler_name) is something wrong.\n";
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ if (($architecture eq "mips") || ($architecture eq "mips64")) {
 	print $tmpf "void main(void){ __asm__ volatile($code); }\n";
 
 	$args = "$msa_flags -o $tmpf.o $tmpf";
-	my @cmd = ("$compiler_name $args >/dev/null 2>/dev/null");
+	my @cmd = ("$compiler_name $flags $args >/dev/null 2>/dev/null");
 	system(@cmd) == 0;
 	if ($? != 0) {
 	    $have_msa = 0;
@@ -236,7 +237,7 @@ if (($architecture eq "x86") || ($architecture eq "x86_64")) {
 	if ($compiler eq "PGI") {
 	    $args = " -tp skylake -c -o $tmpf.o $tmpf";
 	}
-	my @cmd = ("$compiler_name $args >/dev/null 2>/dev/null");
+	my @cmd = ("$compiler_name $flags $args >/dev/null 2>/dev/null");
 	system(@cmd) == 0;
 	if ($? != 0) {
 	    $no_avx512 = 1;
@@ -247,7 +248,7 @@ if (($architecture eq "x86") || ($architecture eq "x86_64")) {
     }
 }
 
-$data = `$compiler_name -S ctest1.c && grep globl ctest1.s | head -n 1 && rm -f ctest1.s`;
+$data = `$compiler_name $flags -S ctest1.c && grep globl ctest1.s | head -n 1 && rm -f ctest1.s`;
 
 $data =~ /globl\s([_\.]*)(.*)/;
 
@@ -263,19 +264,6 @@ if ($architecture ne $hostarch) {
 
 $cross = 1 if ($os ne $hostos);
 
-# rework cross suffix and architecture if we are on OSX cross-compiling for ARMV8-based IOS
-# the initial autodetection will have been confused by the command-line arguments to clang
-# and the cross-compiler apparently still claims to build for x86_64 in its CC -E output
-if (($os eq "Darwin") && ($cross_suffix ne "")) {
-  my $tmpnam = `xcrun --sdk iphoneos --find clang`;
-  $cross_suffix = substr($tmpnam, 0, rindex($tmpnam, "/")+1 ); 
-# this should produce something like $cross_suffix="/Applications/Xcode-10.1.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/";
-  $cross =1;
-  $architecture = arm64;
-}
-
-
-
 $openmp = "" if $ENV{USE_OPENMP} != 1;
 
 $linker_L = "";
@@ -283,7 +271,7 @@ $linker_l = "";
 $linker_a = "";
 
 {
-    $link = `$compiler_name -c ctest2.c -o ctest2.o 2>&1 && $compiler_name $openmp -v ctest2.o -o ctest2 2>&1 && rm -f ctest2.o ctest2 ctest2.exe`;
+    $link = `$compiler_name $flags -c ctest2.c -o ctest2.o 2>&1 && $compiler_name $flags $openmp -v ctest2.o -o ctest2 2>&1 && rm -f ctest2.o ctest2 ctest2.exe`;
 
     $link =~ s/\-Y\sP\,/\-Y/g;