diff --git a/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py b/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
index a8e816484..58c3c0877 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
@@ -89,12 +89,17 @@ class OptionProxy:
 class OptionOverrideProxy:
     '''Mimic an option list but transparently override
     selected option values.'''
-    def __init__(self, overrides, options):
+    def __init__(self, overrides, *options):
         self.overrides = overrides
         self.options = options
 
     def __getitem__(self, option_name):
-        base_opt = self.options[option_name]
+        for opts in self.options:
+            if option_name in opts:
+                return self._get_override(option_name, opts[option_name])
+        raise KeyError('Option not found', option_name)
+
+    def _get_override(self, option_name, base_opt):
         if option_name in self.overrides:
             return OptionProxy(base_opt.name, base_opt.validate_value(self.overrides[option_name]))
         return base_opt
@@ -126,6 +131,20 @@ class Backend:
     def get_target_filename_abs(self, target):
         return os.path.join(self.environment.get_build_dir(), self.get_target_filename(target))
 
+    def get_builtin_options_for_target(self, target):
+        return OptionOverrideProxy(target.option_overrides,
+                                   self.environment.coredata.builtins)
+
+    def get_base_options_for_target(self, target):
+        return OptionOverrideProxy(target.option_overrides,
+                                   self.environment.coredata.builtins,
+                                   self.environment.coredata.base_options)
+
+    def get_compiler_options_for_target(self, target):
+        return OptionOverrideProxy(target.option_overrides,
+                                   # no code depends on builtins for now
+                                   self.environment.coredata.compiler_options)
+
     def get_option_for_target(self, option_name, target):
         if option_name in target.option_overrides:
             override = target.option_overrides[option_name]
@@ -449,7 +468,7 @@ class Backend:
         # starting from hard-coded defaults followed by build options and so on.
         commands = CompilerArgs(compiler)
 
-        copt_proxy = OptionOverrideProxy(target.option_overrides, self.environment.coredata.compiler_options)
+        copt_proxy = self.get_compiler_options_for_target(target)
         # First, the trivial ones that are impossible to override.
         #
         # Add -nostdinc/-nostdinc++ if needed; can't be overridden
diff --git a/mesonbuild/backend/ninjabackend.py b/mesonbuild/backend/ninjabackend.py
index 660b1a595..fed2b54c8 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/backend/ninjabackend.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/backend/ninjabackend.py
@@ -2101,8 +2101,7 @@ rule FORTRAN_DEP_HACK
         return incs
 
     def _generate_single_compile(self, target, compiler, is_generated=False):
-        base_proxy = backends.OptionOverrideProxy(target.option_overrides,
-                                                  self.environment.coredata.base_options)
+        base_proxy = self.get_base_options_for_target(target)
         # Create an empty commands list, and start adding arguments from
         # various sources in the order in which they must override each other
         commands = CompilerArgs(compiler)
diff --git a/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py b/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
index 034fef4eb..43b2336a3 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
@@ -315,7 +315,9 @@ def get_base_compile_args(options, compiler):
     except KeyError:
         pass
     try:
-        if options['b_ndebug'].value == 'true' or (options['b_ndebug'].value == 'if-release' and options['buildtype'] == 'release'):
+        if (options['b_ndebug'].value == 'true' or
+                (options['b_ndebug'].value == 'if-release' and
+                 options['buildtype'].value == 'release')):
             args += ['-DNDEBUG']
     except KeyError:
         pass