diff --git a/demos/c/wscript b/demos/c/wscript
index a0871104..af5d98e6 100644
--- a/demos/c/wscript
+++ b/demos/c/wscript
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@ def configure(conf):
 	conf.check(lib='m', cflags='-Wall', defines=['var=foo', 'x=y'], uselib_store='M', mandatory=False)
 	conf.check_large_file(mandatory=False)
 	conf.check_inline()
-	conf.check_endianness()
+
+	endianness = conf.check_endianness()
+	conf.define_cond("BIG_ENDIAN", endianness == "big")
 
 	def test_build(ctx):
 		ctx(rule='echo hello', shell=True, always=True)