diff --git a/kernel/Makefile b/kernel/Makefile
index e81225075..9b468a6af 100644
--- a/kernel/Makefile
+++ b/kernel/Makefile
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ endif
 TOPDIR	= ..
 include $(TOPDIR)/Makefile.system
 
+
+ifeq ($(C_COMPILER), GCC)
+GCCVERSIONGTEQ9 := $(shell expr `$(CC) -dumpversion | cut -f1 -d.` \>= 9)
+endif
+
 AVX2OPT = 
 ifeq ($(C_COMPILER), GCC)
 # AVX2 support was added in 4.7.0