diff --git a/Makefile.port b/Makefile.port
index 508b4fecc..2df88de90 100644
--- a/Makefile.port
+++ b/Makefile.port
@@ -151,9 +151,15 @@ G_DIR := src/generated/$(ROMID)
 
 ifneq (,$(findstring windows,$(TARGET_PLATFORM)))
   TARGET_CFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config sdl2 --cflags-only-I)
-  TARGET_LDFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config sdl2 --libs) -lz -lopengl32 -static-libstdc++ -lws2_32 -lwinmm -ldbghelp
+  TARGET_LDFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config sdl2 --libs) -lz -lopengl32 -lws2_32 -lwinmm -ldbghelp
   # on windows/mingw we need this to be built with a 32-bit compiler so it finds the correct libs
   TOOLCHAIN ?= i686-w64-mingw32-
+  # on GCC link libstdc++ statically
+  ifeq (,$(findstring clang,$(CC))$(findstring clang,$(CXX)))
+    TARGET_LDFLAGS += -static-libstdc++
+  else
+    TARGET_LDFLAGS += -lstdc++
+  endif
 else # assume *nix
   TARGET_CFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config sdl2 --cflags-only-I)
   TARGET_LDFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config sdl2 --libs) -lGL -lz -ldl
@@ -233,8 +239,8 @@ INCLUDES = \
   -I port/include
 
 TOOLCHAIN ?=
-CC := $(TOOLCHAIN)gcc -std=c11
-CXX := $(TOOLCHAIN)g++ -std=c++20
+CC ?= $(TOOLCHAIN)gcc
+CXX ?= $(TOOLCHAIN)g++
 ifneq (,$(CXX_O_FILES))
   LD := $(CXX)
 else
@@ -250,7 +256,6 @@ COMMON_CFLAGS := $(C_DEFINES) -DAVOID_UB=1 $(INCLUDES) $(TARGET_CFLAGS) -g \
   -fwrapv \
   -Wall \
   -Wno-address \
-  -Wno-aggressive-loop-optimizations \
   -Wno-int-in-bool-context \
   -Wno-misleading-indentation \
   -Wno-missing-braces \
@@ -261,8 +266,8 @@ COMMON_CFLAGS := $(C_DEFINES) -DAVOID_UB=1 $(INCLUDES) $(TARGET_CFLAGS) -g \
   -Wno-unused-variable \
   -Wno-format-truncation
 
-CFLAGS := $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -Wno-pointer-sign
-CXXFLAGS := $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -Wno-unused-function
+CFLAGS := -std=c11 $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -Wno-pointer-sign
+CXXFLAGS := -std=c++20 $(COMMON_CFLAGS) -Wno-unused-function
 LDFLAGS := $(TARGET_LDFLAGS)
 
 # Make ROMID available as an environment variable to all tooling.
diff --git a/port/src/system.c b/port/src/system.c
index 5a3257540..608345ae9 100644
--- a/port/src/system.c
+++ b/port/src/system.c
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
+#define _GNU_SOURCE 1
+#endif
+
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -29,10 +33,6 @@ __attribute__((dllexport)) u32 AmdPowerXpressRequestHighPerformance = 1;
 
 #else
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-#define _GNU_SOURCE 1
-#endif
-
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 // figure out how to yield