diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 519ce635..0b0ce5a4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -497,8 +497,18 @@ else()
     endif()
     # Since gcc 4.9 the LTO format is non-standard (slim), so we need the gcc-specific ar and ranlib binaries
     if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU" AND NOT (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_LESS 4.9.0) AND NOT OPENBSD)
-      set(CMAKE_AR "gcc-ar")
-      set(CMAKE_RANLIB "gcc-ranlib")
+      # When invoking cmake on distributions on which gcc's binaries are prefix
+      # with an arch-specific triplet, the user has to either specify
+      # -DCHOST=... or -DCMAKE_AR=... and -DCMAKE_RANLIB=...
+      if (DEFINED CHOST)
+        set(CHOST_PREFIX "${CHOST}-")
+      endif()
+      if (NOT DEFINED CMAKE_AR)
+        set(CMAKE_AR "${CHOST_PREFIX}gcc-ar")
+      endif()
+      if (NOT DEFINED CMAKE_RANLIB)
+        set(CMAKE_RANLIB "${CHOST_PREFIX}gcc-ranlib")
+      endif()
     endif()
   endif()