diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index 1acfa4ebb..d257eeabb 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -228,10 +228,10 @@ ifndef CUSTOM_RULE_LINK
 endif
 
 %.ramprof: %.$(TARGET)
-	nm -S -td --size-sort $< | grep -i " [abdrw] " | cut -d' ' -f2,4
+	$(NM) -S -td --size-sort $< | grep -i " [abdrw] " | cut -d' ' -f2,4
 
 %.flashprof: %.$(TARGET)
-	nm -S -td --size-sort $< | grep -i " [t] " | cut -d' ' -f2,4
+	$(NM) -S -td --size-sort $< | grep -i " [t] " | cut -d' ' -f2,4
 
 # Don't treat %.$(TARGET) as an intermediate file because it is
 # in fact the primary target.
diff --git a/cpu/native/Makefile.native b/cpu/native/Makefile.native
index 56fb6688b..9f0ce13fb 100644
--- a/cpu/native/Makefile.native
+++ b/cpu/native/Makefile.native
@@ -3,21 +3,21 @@ CONTIKI_CPU_DIRS = . net
 CONTIKI_SOURCEFILES += mtarch.c rtimer-arch.c elfloader-stub.c watchdog.c
 
 ### Compiler definitions
-CC       = gcc
-LD       = gcc
-AS       = as
-NM       = nm
-OBJCOPY  = objcopy
-STRIP    = strip
+CC       ?= gcc
+LD       ?= gcc
+AS       ?= as
+NM       ?= nm
+OBJCOPY  ?= objcopy
+STRIP    ?= strip
 ifdef WERROR
 CFLAGSWERROR=-Werror -pedantic -std=c99 -Werror
 endif
 CFLAGSNO = -Wall -g -I/usr/local/include $(CFLAGSWERROR)
 CFLAGS  += $(CFLAGSNO) -O
 ifeq ($(HOST_OS),Linux)
-  LDFLAGS  = -Wl,-Map=contiki-$(TARGET).map,-export-dynamic
+  LDFLAGS  += -Wl,-Map=contiki-$(TARGET).map,-export-dynamic
 else
-  LDFLAGS  = -Wl
+  LDFLAGS  += -Wl
 endif
 
 ### Compilation rules