diff --git a/Makefile.pre.in b/Makefile.pre.in
--- a/Makefile.pre.in
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ regen-re: $(BUILDPYTHON)
 	$(RUNSHARED) ./$(BUILDPYTHON) $(srcdir)/Tools/scripts/generate_re_casefix.py $(srcdir)/Lib/re/_casefix.py
 
 Programs/_testembed: Programs/_testembed.o $(LINK_PYTHON_DEPS)
-	$(LINKCC) $(PY_CORE_LDFLAGS) $(LINKFORSHARED) -o $@ Programs/_testembed.o $(LINK_PYTHON_OBJS) $(LIBS) $(MODLIBS) $(SYSLIBS)
+	$(CC) $(PY_CORE_LDFLAGS) $(LINKFORSHARED) -o $@ Programs/_testembed.o $(LINK_PYTHON_OBJS) $(LIBS) $(MODLIBS) $(SYSLIBS)
 
 ############################################################################
 # "Bootstrap Python" used to run deepfreeze.py