diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mqueue/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/mqueue/Makefile
index 6ca7261b55dc9d51ce6b179f04c64cd795d536e3..0e3b41eb85cde2cd553bda36ac0b09f43553ceb8 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mqueue/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mqueue/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+CFLAGS = -O2
+
 all:
-	gcc -O2 mq_open_tests.c -o mq_open_tests -lrt
-	gcc -O2 -o mq_perf_tests mq_perf_tests.c -lrt -lpthread -lpopt
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) mq_open_tests.c -o mq_open_tests -lrt
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o mq_perf_tests mq_perf_tests.c -lrt -lpthread -lpopt
 
 include ../lib.mk