diff --git a/tools/configure b/tools/configure
index ac21e0e023..d61a70966b 100755
--- a/tools/configure
+++ b/tools/configure
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ simcc () {
 
  simver=sdl
  GCCOPTS='-W -Wall -g -fno-builtin'
+ GCCOPTIMIZE=''
 
  output="rockboxui" # use this as default output binary name
  sdl=`findtool sdl-config`