diff --git a/scmos/Makefile b/scmos/Makefile
index 7613d732..f9c2baa1 100644
--- a/scmos/Makefile
+++ b/scmos/Makefile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ MAGICDIR = ..
 include ${MAGICDIR}/defs.mak
 
 SC_M4 = ${M4}
-SC_CPP = ${CPP} -I./extract_template
+SC_CPP = ${MCPP} -I./extract_template
 
 FILES = mos.7bit.dstyle mos.7bit.std.cmap \
 	mos.24bit.dstyle mos.24bit.std.cmap \
diff --git a/scripts/configure b/scripts/configure
index b7e2bb24..5d75947f 100755
--- a/scripts/configure
+++ b/scripts/configure
@@ -628,6 +628,7 @@ OA_LIBS
 OA
 MAGIC_REVISION
 MAGIC_VERSION
+MCPP
 LD_RUN_PATH
 SHLIB_CFLAGS
 DEPEND_FLAG
@@ -4124,11 +4125,11 @@ if test "x${PYTHON3}" == "x"; then
 
 
    if test "$CPP" = "$CC -E" ; then
-      CPP="$CPP -x c"
+      MCPP="$CPP -x c"
    fi
 
 else
-   CPP="${MAGICDIR}/scripts/preproc.py"
+   MCPP="\${MAGICDIR}/scripts/preproc.py"
 fi
 
 
@@ -8213,6 +8214,7 @@ fi
 
 
 
+
 
 
 ac_config_files="$ac_config_files defs.mak"
diff --git a/scripts/configure.in b/scripts/configure.in
index e0727e4b..89b48725 100644
--- a/scripts/configure.in
+++ b/scripts/configure.in
@@ -46,11 +46,11 @@ if test "x${PYTHON3}" == "x"; then
    dnl directory.
 
    if test "$CPP" = "$CC -E" ; then
-      CPP="$CPP -x c"
+      MCPP="$CPP -x c"
    fi
 
 else
-   CPP="${MAGICDIR}/scripts/preproc.py"
+   MCPP="\${MAGICDIR}/scripts/preproc.py"
 fi
 
 dnl check if the linker is a GNU linker
@@ -1751,6 +1751,7 @@ AC_SUBST(CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(DEPEND_FLAG)
 AC_SUBST(SHLIB_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(LD_RUN_PATH)
+AC_SUBST(MCPP)
 
 AC_SUBST(MAGIC_VERSION)
 AC_SUBST(MAGIC_REVISION)
diff --git a/scripts/defs.mak.in b/scripts/defs.mak.in
index e949f638..d889e176 100755
--- a/scripts/defs.mak.in
+++ b/scripts/defs.mak.in
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ ARFLAGS                = crv
 LINK                   = ld -r
 LD                     = @LD@
 M4		       = @M4@
+MCPP		       = @MCPP@
 RANLIB                 = @RANLIB@
 SHDLIB_EXT             = @SHDLIB_EXT@
 LDDL_FLAGS             = ${LDFLAGS} @LDDL_FLAGS@