diff --git a/package/gcc/gcc.mk b/package/gcc/gcc.mk
index 9a164c8374..93bc46643c 100644
--- a/package/gcc/gcc.mk
+++ b/package/gcc/gcc.mk
@@ -91,9 +91,12 @@ HOST_GCC_COMMON_CONF_OPTS += --with-debug-prefix-map=$(BASE_DIR)=buildroot
 endif
 
 # Don't build documentation. It takes up extra space / build time,
-# and sometimes needs specific makeinfo versions to work
+# and sometimes needs specific makeinfo versions to work. Override the check
+# for a modern makeinfo otherwise the configure scripts will still enable it.
 HOST_GCC_COMMON_CONF_ENV = \
 	MAKEINFO=missing
+HOST_GCC_COMMON_MAKE_OPTS = \
+	gcc_cv_prog_makeinfo_modern=no
 
 GCC_COMMON_TARGET_CFLAGS = $(TARGET_CFLAGS)
 GCC_COMMON_TARGET_CXXFLAGS = $(TARGET_CXXFLAGS)
@@ -298,7 +301,7 @@ HOST_GCC_COMMON_TOOLCHAIN_WRAPPER_ARGS += -DBR_CROSS_PATH_SUFFIX='".br_real"'
 # For gcc-final, the gcc logic to detect whether SSP support is
 # available or not in the C library is not working properly for
 # uClibc, so let's be explicit as well.
-HOST_GCC_COMMON_MAKE_OPTS = \
+HOST_GCC_COMMON_MAKE_OPTS += \
 	gcc_cv_libc_provides_ssp=$(if $(BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SSP),yes,no)
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_CCACHE),y)