diff --git a/configure b/configure
index f808f48fd3..348f36ae18 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1070,7 +1070,7 @@ cat > $TMPC << EOF
 int main(void) { return 0; }
 EOF
 for flag in $gcc_flags; do
-    if compile_prog "-Werror $QEMU_CFLAGS" "-Werror $flag" ; then
+    if compile_prog "$flag -Werror" "" ; then
 	QEMU_CFLAGS="$QEMU_CFLAGS $flag"
     fi
 done