diff --git a/m4/ax_mexopts.m4 b/m4/ax_mexopts.m4
index 60fda3441..6f46ced2f 100644
--- a/m4/ax_mexopts.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_mexopts.m4
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ case ${MATLAB_ARCH} in
     OPENMP_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-Bstatic,--whole-archive -lgomp -Wl,-Bdynamic,--no-whole-archive"
     ax_mexopts_ok="yes"
     ;;
-  maci | maci64)
+  maci64)
     MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET='10.9'
     MATLAB_DEFS="$MATLAB_DEFS -DNDEBUG"
     MATLAB_CFLAGS="-fno-common -arch x86_64 -mmacosx-version-min=$MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET -fexceptions"
@@ -72,7 +72,10 @@ case ${MATLAB_ARCH} in
     MATLAB_FCFLAGS="-g -O2 -fexceptions -fbackslash -arch x86_64"
     MATLAB_LDFLAGS_NOMAP="-Wl,-twolevel_namespace -undefined error -arch x86_64 -mmacosx-version-min=$MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET -bundle"
     MATLAB_LDFLAGS="$MATLAB_LDFLAGS_NOMAP -Wl,-exported_symbols_list,\$(abs_top_srcdir)/mexFunction-MacOSX.map"
-    MATLAB_LIBS="-L$MATLAB/bin/maci64 -lmx -lmex -lmat -lmwlapack -lmwblas"
+    # This -L flag is put here, hence later on the linker command line, so as
+    # to avoid linking against the HDF5 shipped by MATLAB (which would
+    # otherwise override the HDF5 from Homebrew)
+    MATLAB_LIBS="-L$MATLAB/bin/maci64 -lmx -lmex -lmat -lmwlapack -lmwblas -lstdc++"
     ax_mexopts_ok="yes"
     ;;
   *)
diff --git a/mex/build/matlab/configure.ac b/mex/build/matlab/configure.ac
index 0eaedf7a4..69f3670a9 100644
--- a/mex/build/matlab/configure.ac
+++ b/mex/build/matlab/configure.ac
@@ -59,19 +59,6 @@ AX_PROG_LN_S
 AC_PROG_MKDIR_P
 AM_PROG_AR
 
-case ${host_os} in
-  *darwin*)
-    string=$($CXX --version)
-    if test "${string#*clang}" != "$string"; then
-      CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -stdlib=libc++"
-      MATLAB_LIBS="$MATLAB_LIBS -lc++"
-      MATLAB_LDFLAGS="$MATLAB_LDFLAGS -Wl,-syslibroot,$(xcrun -sdk macosx --show-sdk-path)"
-    else
-      MATLAB_LIBS="$MATLAB_LIBS -lstdc++"
-    fi
-    ;;
-esac
-
 AX_CXX11_THREAD
 
 # Check for dlopen(), needed by k_order_perturbation DLL
diff --git a/mex/build/octave/configure.ac b/mex/build/octave/configure.ac
index c8b34d166..c793d4db3 100644
--- a/mex/build/octave/configure.ac
+++ b/mex/build/octave/configure.ac
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ LDFLAGS="$($MKOCTFILE -p LFLAGS) $($MKOCTFILE -p LDFLAGS)"
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 case ${host_os} in
   darwin*)
-    CXXFLAGS="$($MKOCTFILE -p ALL_CXXFLAGS) -Wall -Wno-parentheses -Wold-style-cast -O2"
-    LDFLAGS+=" $($MKOCTFILE -p OCTAVE_LIBS)"
+    dnl The mkoctfile from Octave.app 4.4.1 does not add optimization flags in CXXFLAGS
+    CXXFLAGS+=" -O2"
     ;;
 esac