diff --git a/src/luarocks/core/cfg.lua b/src/luarocks/core/cfg.lua
index 535bd69..b017161 100644
--- a/src/luarocks/core/cfg.lua
+++ b/src/luarocks/core/cfg.lua
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ local function make_defaults(lua_version, target_cpu, platforms, home)
       defaults.external_lib_extension = "dylib"
       defaults.arch = "macosx-"..target_cpu
       defaults.variables.LIBFLAG = "-bundle -undefined dynamic_lookup -all_load"
-      local version = util.popen_read("sw_vers -productVersion")
+      local version = os.getenv("MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET") or "@darwinMinVersion@"
       if not (version:match("^%d+%.%d+%.%d+$") or version:match("^%d+%.%d+$")) then
          version = "10.3"
       end
@@ -448,8 +448,8 @@ local function make_defaults(lua_version, target_cpu, platforms, home)
       else
          defaults.gcc_rpath = false
       end
-      defaults.variables.CC = "env MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET="..tostring(version).." gcc"
-      defaults.variables.LD = "env MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET="..tostring(version).." gcc"
+      defaults.variables.CC = "env MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET="..tostring(version).." clang"
+      defaults.variables.LD = "env MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET="..tostring(version).." clang"
       defaults.web_browser = "open"
    end