diff --git a/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/linux/Makefile.inc b/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/linux/Makefile.inc
index 5aa1589e52..a1b115c0ae 100644
--- a/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/linux/Makefile.inc
+++ b/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/linux/Makefile.inc
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 OBJECTS  := main.o bogomips.o
 GEN_DIR   = $(LINUX_DIR)/..
+CC_MARCH ?=
 
 cpu_bench: $(OBJECTS)
 	g++ $(OBJECTS) -o $@
 
 main.o: $(LINUX_DIR)/main.cc $(GEN_DIR)/bogomips.h
-	g++ -c -I$(GEN_DIR) -O2 -Wall -Wextra -Weffc++ -std=gnu++11 $< -o $@
+	g++ -c -I$(GEN_DIR) $(CC_MARCH) -mcpu=native -O2 -Wall -Wextra -Weffc++ -std=gnu++11 $< -o $@
 
 bogomips.o: ../bogomips.s
 	gcc -c -O2 -Wall -Wextra $< -o $@
diff --git a/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/spec/arm/linux/Makefile b/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/spec/arm/linux/Makefile
index aa06928304..d101dcbe46 100644
--- a/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/spec/arm/linux/Makefile
+++ b/repos/os/src/test/cpu_bench/spec/arm/linux/Makefile
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 LINUX_DIR = $(PWD)/../../../linux
 
+CC_MARCH = -marm
+
 include $(LINUX_DIR)/Makefile.inc