--- a/lib-python/3/distutils/unixccompiler.py
+++ b/lib-python/3/distutils/unixccompiler.py
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@
         # this time, there's no way to determine this information from
         # the configuration data stored in the Python installation, so
         # we use this hack.
-        compiler = os.path.basename(sysconfig.get_config_var("CC"))
+        compiler = os.path.basename(self.compiler[0])
         if sys.platform[:6] == "darwin":
             # MacOSX's linker doesn't understand the -R flag at all
             return "-L" + dir