diff --git a/mesonbuild/compilers/c.py b/mesonbuild/compilers/c.py
index 88ad7b6d8..b0096459a 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/compilers/c.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/compilers/c.py
@@ -427,7 +427,13 @@ class CCompiler(Compiler):
                 args += env.coredata.get_external_preprocess_args(self.language)
             elif mode == 'compile':
                 # Add CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS/OBJCFLAGS/OBJCXXFLAGS from the env
-                args += env.coredata.get_external_args(self.language)
+                sys_args = env.coredata.get_external_args(self.language)
+                # Apparently it is a thing to inject linker flags both
+                # via CFLAGS _and_ LDFLAGS, even though the former are
+                # also used during linking. These flags can break
+                # argument checks. Thanks, Autotools.
+                cleaned_sys_args = self.remove_linkerlike_args(sys_args)
+                args += cleaned_sys_args
             elif mode == 'link':
                 # Add LDFLAGS from the env
                 args += env.coredata.get_external_link_args(self.language)
diff --git a/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py b/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
index f464ec85f..376143358 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
@@ -1271,6 +1271,9 @@ class Compiler:
         '''
         return []
 
+    def remove_linkerlike_args(self, args):
+        return [x for x in args if not x.startswith('-Wl')]
+
 
 @enum.unique
 class CompilerType(enum.Enum):