diff --git a/m4/ax_mexopts.m4 b/m4/ax_mexopts.m4
index 94d534b30..2ebbb264b 100644
--- a/m4/ax_mexopts.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_mexopts.m4
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ AC_REQUIRE([AC_CANONICAL_HOST])
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([for options to compile MEX for MATLAB])
 
 MATLAB_CPPFLAGS="-I$MATLAB/extern/include"
-MATLAB_CC="gcc"
-MATLAB_CXX="g++"
+MATLAB_CC="$CC"
+MATLAB_CXX="$CXX"
 MATLAB_DEFS="-DNO_OPENMP" # Don't use OpenMP (flag used by S. Adjemian in some DLLs)
 
 case ${MATLAB_ARCH} in