--- Makefile.pre.in
+++ Makefile.pre.in
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@
 _PYTHON_HOST_PLATFORM=@_PYTHON_HOST_PLATFORM@
 HOST_GNU_TYPE=  @host@
 
+# override for cross-compile builds
+PYTHON_FOR_COMPILE=$(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD)
+
 # The task to run while instrument when building the profile-opt target
 PROFILE_TASK=	$(srcdir)/Tools/pybench/pybench.py -n 2 --with-gc --with-syscheck
 #PROFILE_TASK=	$(srcdir)/Lib/test/regrtest.py
@@ -995,28 +999,28 @@
 		$(INSTALL_DATA) $(srcdir)/Modules/xxmodule.c \
 			$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/distutils/tests ; \
 	fi
-	PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)  $(RUNSHARED) \
-		$(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD) -Wi -tt $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
+	 PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)  $(RUNSHARED) \
+		$(PYTHON_FOR_COMPILE) -Wi -tt $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
 		-d $(LIBDEST) -f \
 		-x 'bad_coding|badsyntax|site-packages|lib2to3/tests/data' \
 		$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)
-	PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
-		$(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD) -Wi -tt -O $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
+	 PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
+		$(PYTHON_FOR_COMPILE) -Wi -tt -O $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
 		-d $(LIBDEST) -f \
 		-x 'bad_coding|badsyntax|site-packages|lib2to3/tests/data' \
 		$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)
-	-PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)  $(RUNSHARED) \
-		$(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD) -Wi -t $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
+	 PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)  $(RUNSHARED) \
+		$(PYTHON_FOR_COMPILE) -Wi -t $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
 		-d $(LIBDEST)/site-packages -f \
 		-x badsyntax $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/site-packages
-	-PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
-		$(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD) -Wi -t -O $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
+	 PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
+		$(PYTHON_FOR_COMPILE) -Wi -t -O $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/compileall.py \
 		-d $(LIBDEST)/site-packages -f \
 		-x badsyntax $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/site-packages
-	-PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
-		$(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD) -m lib2to3.pgen2.driver $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/lib2to3/Grammar.txt
-	-PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
-		$(PYTHON_FOR_BUILD) -m lib2to3.pgen2.driver $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/lib2to3/PatternGrammar.txt
+	 PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
+		$(PYTHON_FOR_COMPILE) -m lib2to3.pgen2.driver $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/lib2to3/Grammar.txt
+	 PYTHONPATH=$(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST) $(RUNSHARED) \
+		$(PYTHON_FOR_COMPILE) -m lib2to3.pgen2.driver $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDEST)/lib2to3/PatternGrammar.txt
 
 # Create the PLATDIR source directory, if one wasn't distributed..
 $(srcdir)/Lib/$(PLATDIR):