diff --git a/configure b/configure
index f74bf0f04f..ab17b404a7 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2812,7 +2812,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 }
 EOF
   if ! compile_prog "" "" ; then
-    CFLAGS="-march=i486 $CFLAGS"
+    QEMU_CFLAGS="-march=i486 $QEMU_CFLAGS"
   fi
 fi